Invasive Species

Question 1

What processes can invasive alter?

Answer 1

Biogeochemical cycles, like amur honeysuckle, and microbiome alateration, like feral pig.

Question 2

How many species has the Antarctic been invaded with?

Answer 2

200 plants, animals, invertebrates and microbes.

Question 3

What is the extent of the impact of invasive species?

Answer 3

Invasives threaten 42% of endangered species in the US, costing 120 billion annually, over half of all extinctions attributable to invasives globally.

Question 4

What are the avenues of invasive species spread?

Answer 4

European colonization, Agri/horti/aquaculture, or accidental transport, biological control

Question 5

How has insect invasions impacted USA?

Answer 5

Insect diversity declined by 40% following fire ant introduction.

Question 6

How can invasives especially impact island endemics?

Answer 6

Species evolved in the absence of predators.

Question 7

What is an example of extinction of island endemics?

Answer 7

Brown tree snake in Guam has driven 10/13 of forest bird species to extinction

Question 8

What is the capacity of invasion?

Answer 8

Less than 1% capable of increasing/spreading to new habitats.

Question 9

How may human perturbance proliferate invasive species?

Answer 9

Forest fragmentation, suburban development, easy access to garbage allowing red foxes, coyotes and certain seagulls, or spawning of Jellyfish on oil rigs and artificial reefs.

Question 10

How can invasive species affect the genetic content of a population?

Answer 10

When invasives closely resemble natives and hybridize with them, called genetic swamping like the apache and rainbow trout.

Question 11

How can invasive species affect the genetic content of a population?

Answer 11

When invasives closely resemble natives and hybridize with them, called genetic swamping like the apache and rainbow trout.

Question 12

What are some political enforcements that should be considered? -

Answer 12

Prohibitions of certain transports, regulation checks, better understanding of life history of deliberately introduced species

Question 13

What is done to limit invasive disease in management?

Answer 13

Limit contact between host/parasite, indirect effects from habitat destruction increase disease susceptibility, species in conservation programs may contract diseases from related species

Question 14

What is non-native species success dependent on?

Answer 14

The communities invasibility, predetermined by species composition, habitat quality, resource availability and climatic conditions.

Question 15

What often limits our ability to prevent invasions and secondary spread?

Answer 15

Ineffective measurements of large spatio-temporal scales dynamics of invasiveness, many assessments done at small temporal/spatial scales.

Question 16

What is the success of Zebra Mussel underpinned by?

Answer 16

Environmental tolerance and biological traits, especially ecosystem engineering ability, altering nutrient concentration and increasing water transparency.

Question 17

What are expected consequences?

Answer 17

Influence community composition, outcompete indigenous species, facilitate establishment of others , and create habtiat for other non-natives like Dikerogammarus villosus.

Question 18

How does this proliferate through the food web?

Answer 18

Reducing prey of fish species, increase of waterfowl and changes in migration patterns due to high dietary reliance.

Question 19

How did this study analyse large scale dynamics?

Answer 19

Used 1816 European freshwater macroinverrebtae time series and zebra mussels as model species from a comphrensive database.

Question 20

What can be assessed to recognise whether species are invasive?

Answer 20

Local abundance within naturalized range, geographic extent of this range, habitat breadth.