Skip to main content

Why do Invasive Plants Species Matter?

 Biologists have spent a large amount of time discovering these invasive species as well as analyzing them to gather as much information as possible on these species. So, first what is an invasive species let alone an invasive plant? An invasive species is defined as a non-native plant to the ecosystem, and the introduction of causes are to health of humans or the ecosystem or economic damage. Given that one of the defining features of an invasive species is does it cause harm, this a serious issue if certain species find there way into an ecosystem.

There are several species of plants that are labeled as invasive in the united states. Some examples are, Purple Loosestrife, Japanese Honeysuckle, Norway Maple, and Reed Canarygrass. These species are very effective at invading and their spread and control of their ecosystems. So, how and why can these plants take control of ecosystem? Usually these invasive plants find their way into disturbed ecosystems such as ones that are disturbed by construction or plowing, but many invasive plants also have similar characteristics that allow them to invade and ecosystem. Often their characteristics are quick reproductive rate, no predators or pathogens in the ecosystem, usually have someway of out-competing other plants, such as chemicals or being able to over shadow other plants, and often have easily spreadable seeds. These characteristics are helpful to predict what species will be invasive, but why does it matter if a plant becomes invasive and starts to take over ecosystems. There are several impacts that can occur. Some of the most notable are decreased water quality, as well as decreased quality of agricultural lands. These are significant factors in terms of human health as well as economic factors when farmers must spend more money on controlling their agricultural land. These species can also cause the decline of natural wildlife with the reduction of their food, as well as Invasive species contribute to the population decline of endangered species, and some invasive species are the cause of endangered species

 So, what can you do to prevent the spread of these invasive species? There are several simple things that we can do to help reduce the spread of these invasive plants, first don’t pick and move flowers or plants that you cannot identify this may spread their seeds, only drive on established roads driving over native plants this may give the invasive plants and edge to start growth. Also, when feeding pack animals only use feed that is certified weed free, and if gardening confirms that the plants that you are planting are not invasive plants.

 These invasive plants have many different effects and can cause problems such as destroying natural habitats and ecosystem, as well as if these plants start to take over there is a large amount of money and time that is put into controlling and preventing the spread of these plants. So, to prevent problems occurring with the decline of endangered species, and money spent on control of invasive species on agricultural land. These plants need to be prevented to stop many problems from occurring.

 To learn more go to:
 https://www.eddmaps.org/about/why_plants_invade.cfm https://insider.si.edu/2013/04/top-six-invasive-plant-species-in-the-united-states/ https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/invasives/index.shtml

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Family Disease

My mother has a 50/50 chance of growing old. That means I also have a 50/50 chance of having the same outcome as her. Why? Huntington’s Disease, or HD. HD is also known as the family disease because just like having the same eye color as your dad, you can have the same disease as him. This disease runs in the family, meaning that it can be passed down from generation to generation. In a family, the disease will die off if it happens to never get passed down. For example, the father in the family has HD, he has one kid so that child has a 50% chance of developing the disease. If the child does develop the disease, then his children all have a 50% chance of also developing that disease. But if the father never passes down HD to his only child then the disease can never be passed down again, the disease can not skip generations. Everyone technically has the gene that causes HD but only the people who get passed down the expansion of the gene will eventually develop HD. More than 200,...

The Impact of Female Scientists in Today's Society

When I was a little girl I had the dream that I could become anything I aspired to be whether it was a lawyer, doctor, president, or scientist.   Women haven’t always been able to go to school and have jobs like men do but there were women that pushed passed those boundaries and taught other women that they can be better than men.               Marie Curie was a brilliant scientist born in 1867 and the only education she received was general education and a miniscule amount of scientific training from her father who was a schoolteacher.   In 1891, she acquired licentiateships in physics and mathematics and later in 1894 surpassed her husband to become the new Head of Physics.   She then gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903 and following her husband’s death she became the Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences where she was the first woman to hold this position.   ...