Ko-kee, ko-kee... are the mating calls of invasive Coqui frogs who have invaded a majority of the Big Island. These Coqui frogs, also known as Eleutherodactylus coqui are native in Puerto Rico and these small frogs are considered their national animal (Singer et al). Coqui frogs were accidentally introduced to Hawaii during a shipment of plants from Puerto Rico to Hawaii in the late 1980's. Coqui frogs are about 2 inches in length and are usually light brown or gray with a stripe down their back. Over the past two decades E. coqui have spread to the four main Hawaiian Islands and other places such as the Caribbean, Florida, and Louisiana (Singer et al). As of today, the Coquis intensive mating calls can be heard throughout every part of the Big Island during the night. While the Puerto Ricans love the sound of the Coquis, many locals in Hawaii dislike them due to the environmental and economic damages they are creating. Coqui frogs are detriment to Hawaii because they are a serious threat to the native insect population, compete for food with Hawaii's native bird population, and cost residents and businesses millions of dollars each year (McAvoy).
Coqui frogs are harming Hawaii's environment as they begin to reproduce faster than ever. Female coquis can deposit up to 28 eggs every eight weeks (Singer et al). The environment is not able to work efficiently when these little creatures are constantly reproducing. Coqui frogs are a serious threat to native insect population because they are consuming and removing insects from forest floor to treetops (Van Valkenburg). Insects have always been the major food source for birds and with coquis around, they have to compete and search for food. When Coqui frogs feed off of mites, ant...
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...es from the coqui frogs are a serious problem, but we need to accept the fact that coqui frogs will never leave our Hawaiian islands the way it used to be.
Works Cited
Beard, Karen , and William Pitt. "Biology and Impacts of Pacific Island Invasive Species. Eleutherodactylus coqui, the Coqui Frog." 1 Jan. 2009: 297-316. Print.
"Control of Coqui Frog in Hawai'i." Control of Coqui Frog in Hawai'i. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
McAvoy, Audrey. "More tiny, but harmful, frogs showing up in Hawaii." Honolulu Star-Advertiser 24 Dec. 2011: n. pag. Print.
Rather, Dan. "Coqui Frog Driving Away Tourists." 17 Sept. 2002: n. pag. Print.
Singer, Sydney, and Soma Grismaijer. Panic in paradise: invasive species hysteria and the Hawaiian coqui frog war. Pahoa, Hawaii: ISCD Press, 2005. Print.
Van Valkenburg, Nancy. "Nonnative frogs in Hawaii." 22 June 2012: n. pag. Print.
What is the most important element of a good story? Although interesting characters, engaging plot development and didactic story lines certainly embellish the story, one could argue that the setting is the most crucial. Not only does the setting provide a baseline of necessary background information, it can also be used to enhance the story, just like the other elements listed. Edgar Allan Poe certainly takes advantage of this in “Hop Frog”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and the “Masque of the Red Death”. In each of these stories, gruesome horrors occur, and because of the ingenious way Poe uses and manipulates the setting to his advantage, these stories’ horrors are amplified. In “Hop Frog” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, the main characters
The Gray Tree Frog can be found anywhere ranging from southern Ontario in Canada to the southern coast in the United States. Usually it is not found west of Texas or Manitoba, Canada. The can be found at Rice Creek Field Station. The best habitat is shallow water situated close to diverse stands of willows, oaks, and pines (Craighead, 2004, p. 2). The location of water and plenty of vegetation, which not only shades the forest but also covers the ground with broken brushwood, is what needed for the frog’s ultimate survival is.
Sonia P. Juvik, James O. Juvik. Atlas of Hawaii. 3rd Edition. Hilo: University of Hawai'i Press, 1998.
Poison arrow frogs are one of the most interesting animals of the Amazon rainforest. Poison Arrow Frogs are very colorful. The Poison arrow frogs skin holds all of the poison. Female Poison arrow frogs lay eggs in the water which then turn into tadpoles, when nursing the tadpoles stay on the females back. They’re colorful and vibrant body warn predators to not go near them. Most Poison arrow frogs are a bright colored. The Poison arrow frogs scientific name is Dendrobatidae. Poison arrow frogs are not poisonous in captivity. They gain their poison from bugs and arthropods that they eat. Poison arrow frogs gained their name from indian tribes putting the Poison arrow frogs poison on darts and arrows. Poison arrow frogs are small and about a centimetre tall and wide. The most poisonous part of a poison arrow frog is the Poison arrow frogs skin that can kill a 180 pound 6 ft man but usually it isn’t bad. All Poison frogs are poisonous but only 3 are deadly. The most poisonous and deadly Poison arrow frog is the famous Golden arrow frog. Its poison, Batrachotoxin can kill small animals and humans. As you can see Poison arrow frogs are unique and colorful frogs.
As a result, their habitat is being destroyed, leaving them with no place to live and to nest their young. They are also being disturbed by human activities near their habitat.
With the rising sea level it has already submerged a northwest island in the Hawaii region. This island goes by the name of whale skate. This island has disappeared and the rest of the islands up in that region are at steak for being under water. The islands are housing wildlife that are found nowhere in the world except these islands and most of these animals are endangered.
Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/animal-intervention/interactives/exotic-animal-incidents/. Kendall, Jodi. (n.d.) Wild at Home: Exotic Animals as Pets. National Geographic. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/animal-intervention/articles/wild-at-home-exotic-animals-as-pets/. Parry, Wynne. A.
In 1996, the Asian Longhorn Beetle made its way into the New York and New Jersey creating the decimation of the forests. The Asian Longhorn Beetle has so far caused the cutting of over 10,000 trees in New Jersey, and quarantine of 109 miles in New York today . The spread of this foreign beetle has created great impacts on the environment. The Asian Longhorn Beetle is an invasive specie, a harmful specie from another locations, mainly other countries, that has ended up in a foreign habitat. As time has progressed, invasive species have continued to come into our environment more frequently creating many unforeseen consequences. The relationship of invasive species within the United States’ environment and ecosystem has been changing ever since the arrival of the Europeans in the 1700s to present day. Due to these encounters with other species whether harmful or neutral, the majority, if not all, of the United States has been affected with the threatening encroachment of native species due to the industrialization of waterways and transportation.
Get ready to learn about the deadliest and smallest poisonous animal in the world. The Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog (Oophaga pumilio) is the most poisonous animal in the world. It’s as big as a finger very colorful. These frogs are native from Central America. In this essay, you will learn what its adaptations are, what process has it used to become what it is now, how it impacts society, how it relates to everyday life and what are the short-term and long-term impacts.
Here comes the big question; How did the family Boidae reach all the way from areas of Asia, the island of Madagascar and Africa to the Americas? It is not entirely possible to give an accurate or complete sequence of events for the Boidae family, but the relationship between all of the snake families and their distributions can help to fill in some of the gaps that are missing. Many hypotheses have been created without much evidence to try to understand this distribution of the boids. The first hypothesis stated that these particular snakes reached Madagascar from the African mainland before the Mozambique Channel was formed. On a related note, the presence of Boas on Madagascar shows us that this family of snakes had already evolved before
The toads looking alike can be negative to this amphibian’s survival because people confuse them and think that the Houston toad is not actually endangered.(“Houston Toad vs. Gulf Coast Toad”) It is restricted to specific environments meaning it has very little land here in Texas to live. Since this toad moves by making short hops, it prevents it from escaping predators. It’s downfall also comes because of habitat fragmentation meaning “...transforming large habitat patches into smaller, more isolated fragments of habitat.” Invasive species also come into play such as the fire ant, they eat juvenile toads decreasing the population even more. Fires have burned thousands of acres in Bastrop State Park destroying the toad’s main home. Not only have humans affected the Houston toad, other animals and natural disasters have
How does the growth of the Invasive Species Colocasia escuelenta (Elephant Ear) affect the growth of Water Tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) in Bluebonnet Swamp?
Invasive alien species are disrupting and changing the normal ecological functions of biomes, ecosystems, and the biosphere as a whole (CBD, 2009). They are a threat to biodiversity and can cause damage to, or even eradicate native species which natural cycles and other organisms depend on. While disrupting energy flow, food chains, and shaking the structure of ecosystems to the core, invasive species create not only ecological, but also a whole host of social, economical, and health issues that affect the livelihood of almost every organism on earth, including humans (CBD, 2009).
They face the most significant mass extinction since the dinosaurs. The main reason they will disappear is because we will choose to allow it. You can be one of the people who stops it.” (2) This was found on the Amphibian Ark by Andy Harrison.
Accepting the doctrine of Animal Rights can result in the extinction of native animals, and also cause adverse effects on the environment. Another consequence of accepting the doctrine of Animal Rights is that humans will no longer be able to control foreign predators (pests) via traps, hunting, fishing and poisons. Many foreign animals have been introduced to different ecosystems over the course of history, and is very likely to have caused many extinctions of indigenous species. This occurs because they compete with native animals for habitat and food, and sometimes introduce new diseases. Maintaining the indigenous species and thus biodiversity is important because animals depend on each other in a food web, and an extinction in one can result in many more following. For example, the introduction of possums to New Zealand in 1837, has led to the extinction of many indigenous bird species such as the Bush wren, Laughing owl and the Native thrush. Another reason is that the extinction of animals has negative flow-on effects on the environment. The diversity stability hypothesis states that biodiversity acts as a stabilizing factor in ecosystems, and thus highly diverse ecosystems can act to reduce impacts of changes in the environment (Thibaut, 2012). We should therefore probably, not support human rights, as the elimination of pest control is very likely to result in many indigenous species to go extinct, and the resultant reduction in biodiversity will impair its ability to buffer out the environmental changes caused by humans, such as climate change. Additionally, because the reduction in biodiversity has been caused by humans in the first place, it is probably our responsibility to minimize the harmful