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People in the Environment > Invasive Species and Introduced Diseases > Flashcards

Invasive Species and Introduced Diseases Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an invasive species?

A
  • A non-native species

- Spreads to a degree which can cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health

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2
Q

Examples of invasive species in the UK

A
  • Foxes
  • Squirrels
  • Red oak
  • Walnut
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3
Q

What is the estimated annual cost in the US associated with damage caused by invasive species?

A

Over $136 billion per year from all invasive organisms

42% of threatened/endangered species in US primarily because of invasive species

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4
Q

What are the impacts of invasive species on ecosystems

A
  • Impacts all aspects of an ecosystem
  • Changes biotic/abiotic conditions
  • Replaces native species - key to functioning
  • Damage to human infrastructure
  • Expensive to eradicate
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5
Q

How do species become invasive?

A
  • Travel/ self-introduction

- Human assistance

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6
Q

How do species become invasive through self introduction?

A
  • Reach new areas outside of original range to close neighbouring regions
  • Slow process
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7
Q

How do species become invasive through human assistance?

A
  • Human assistance can be accidental or deliberate
  • Speeds up process and occurs over long distances
  • Movement of waterborne species as water is discharged in other habitats
  • Air travel - diverse and isolated ecosystems become connected
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8
Q

Outline deliberate human assistance of invasive species

A
  • Animals and birds for hunting
  • Plants for agriculture/forestry
  • Domestic animals
  • Biological control
  • Released pets
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9
Q

Outline accidental human assistance of invasive species

A
  • Transport vehicles
  • Unprocessed wood
  • Plant nurseries
  • Tourists
  • Produce shipments
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10
Q

What are the benefits of accidental human assistance?

A
  • Most introduced species do not survive and do not impact ecosystems
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11
Q

What are the benefits of deliberate human assistance?

A
  • Honey bee introduced - able to pollinate, providing a service a native species could not do
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12
Q

Examples of accidental human assistance being disruptive to ecosystems?

A
  • Introduction to cats and rats in NZ
  • Small pox and other diseases from Europe to Americas
  • Zebra mussels in Great Lakes US, affects water quality
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13
Q

Examples of deliberate human assistance being disruptive to ecosystems?

A
  • US minks in the UK - cause of decline of otters

- Deer in NZ - threat to plants

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14
Q

Why do only some species become invasive?

A
  • Natural predators
  • Competitors for food
  • Breeding patterns
  • Climate tolerances
  • Genetic diversity
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15
Q

How to predict which species will be invasive

A
  • Trends:
  • High reproductive rates
  • Short time to maturity
  • Adaptable to diverse environments
  • Associated with humans
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16
Q

What controls the success of invasions?

A

4 main factors:

  • Climate and environment
  • Propagule pressure (number and frequency of introductions)
  • Minimum viable population size
  • Lag time (local establishment to exponential growth)
17
Q

What makes an ecosystem vulnerable to invasion?

A
  • Climatically similar to original habitat
  • Early successional (recently distributed)
  • Low diversity of native species
  • Absence of predators/grazers of invasive species
  • Absence of competition/lack of similar species
  • Few links on food web
  • Human disturbance
18
Q

How do humans make ecosystems more susceptible to invasion?

A
  • Soil changes (erosion, nutrients)
  • Removal of vegetation
  • Removal of predators
  • Suppression of disturbance regime (fire)
19
Q

What is the homogenisation of nature?

A
  • Refers to the replacement of local biotas with non-native species, usually introduced by humans
  • Ecological specialists are replaced by ecological generalists
20
Q

What are Browns (1989) rules of invasion? (5)

A
  • Isolated environments - low diversity of native species
  • Successful invader are native to continents
  • Similarity between source and target areas
  • More successful when native do not occupy similar niches
  • History of close association with humans
21
Q

How is the nutrient cycle impacted by invasive species?

A
  • Example - Myrica Faya (fire tree) invasive in Hawaii
  • Take Nitrogen out of air and puts into soil
  • Native species are slow growing and unable to respond to disturbances
  • Ecosystem cycles and dynamics permanently shifted
22
Q

How are disturbance regimes impacted by invasive species?

A
  • Example - Cheatgrass - introduced 19th century to US through ballast, soil and crop seed
  • Thrives in disturbed areas
  • Alters fire regime to maintain dominance
23
Q

What are the ecological impacts of invasive species?

A
  • Invasive species promote homogenisation of the environment
  • They reduce local diversity and increase productivity
  • Can change ecosystem dynamics and push systems past tipping point - into new normal
24
Q

Describe the bioerosion/turbation caused by invasive rabbits

A
  • Introduced to Australia in 1859 for sport
  • Thrived due to good climate, access to food and no predators
  • 70% of land surface covered in rabbits
  • Excessive digging and grazing - soil erosion
  • Loss of agriculture
  • Extinction
  • Cost over $200 million AUD/year
25
Q

What are the principles of control and management of invasive species?

A
  • Do nothing
  • Proactive management: preventing potentially invasive species from entering a new area - exclusion or eradication
  • Reactive management: once invasive species invaded, eradication and exclusion impossible - biological and chemical approaches needed
26
Q

Outline the invasion of species in NZ

A
  • Europeans arrived in 1840
  • 40% of species were alien species - 1.623
  • No land mammals before, so all birds walked on floor
  • No native animals means no defences
27
Q

What were the impacts of mammals in NZ on fauna?

A
  • Evolution without mammalian predators
  • Rats and mice eat native birds and insects
  • Weasels, cats take eggs of birds
  • Wild cats attack birds, lizards and insects
28
Q

What were the impacts of mammals in NZ on flora?

A
  • Grazing herbivores (deer and goats) cause drastic changes to the understorey composition, structure and dynamics of forest
  • Possum browsing defoliates and kills trees whilst reducing fecundity
29
Q

Describe pest control in NZ

A
  • Use of 1080 - sodium monofluoroacetate to kill mammals
  • Killed 98% of possums and 90% of rats
  • Air dropped due to inaccessible wild areas
  • Dilutes in water so controversial
  • Effective in increasing population sizes of native birds
30
Q

Is a pest free NZ possible?

A
  • Cost of pest control approx $20/ha
  • $0.5 billion /year for 50 years
  • Unlike other regions, total eradication is possible due to relatively short time since invasion
  • Approach - eradicate from islands and defendable main land areas
31
Q

Examples of invasive diseases in temperate forests

A
  • Dutch elm disease
  • Sudden Oak death
  • Ash die back in UK
32
Q

Describe Dutch Elm disease

A
  • Killed over 60 million elm trees in 2 epidemics
  • First epidemic caused by fungus Ophiostomaulmi from 1920s
  • Second caused by highly aggressive and related fungus O. novoulmi - 1970s via untreated wood shipment
  • Elm bark beetles in the genus Scolytus disseminate the fungus
  • Fungus invades water conducting system of trees
33
Q

Describe Sudden Oak death

A
  • Sudden oak death pathogen introduced in California through a horticultural nursery in 2000s
  • Native oak species have no defences - caused widespread mortality
34
Q

Describe Ash die-back in the UK

A
  • Killed 90% of ash trees in Denmark

- However, trees in UK could be more resistant

35
Q

Describe the Invasive Alien Species Regulation

A
  • Introduced by the EU in 2016
  • Forces member states to regulate import, growing and transportation of 37 invasive alien species
  • Member states must work together to ensure biosecurity
36
Q

What are some examples of the 37 invasive alien species in the invasive alien species regulation?

A 
Plants:
- Floating primrose 
- Persian hogweed
Animals:
- Asian hornet 
- NA bullfrog

People in the Environment (8 decks)

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