To survive in the wild, plants must form defenses to protect themselves from herbivory. The main physical defenses are thorns, used to harm the herbivore, or predator. This harm to the animal triggers a negative response, therefore causing the animal to avoid that plant in the future. Plants commonly eaten sometimes form a sour or bitter taste or odor to deter herbivores. This mechanism causes herbivores to stay away from such plants and avoid eating them. In addition, poison serves as an effective deterrent, causing animals to stay away due to its effects. These poisons may cause vomiting or extreme illness, and in some cases, death, which warns herbivores to avoid such plants through experience or from warnings by other animals. A final deterrent is airborne attractant. Such attractants draw in larger predators to run off the particular predators of the plant and deter them from returning. Not only do plants have such mechanisms, but animals as well. To defend themselves from predators, animals evolved over the course of time to create more desirable and beneficial features for them. Animals still change some, but they mainly use physical defenses or other means. A common defense of animals is poison. This poison either builds in the body of the animal or they can accumulate it through nature. Creatures such as frogs secrete poison through their skin and can kill creatures as great as humans. Snakes too have poison, but they distribute it to their predators and prey through lethal or crippling bites. Also, animals make sounds that deter predators by frightening or displeasing them. Finally, they have physical defenses such as thorns and horns to fight off predators and deter them. In a harmless way, animals defend themselves... ... middle of paper ... ... throw off the balance in the ecosystem. Also, invasive species create an overall issue in the food chain, causing shortages and a reestablishment to occur. This issue affects both predators and prey and herbivores and plants. In the case that the invasive species was that of a plant, problems could still arise. When introduced to a new environment, the invasive species may find it more conducive to reproduction and rapidly reproduce. This rapid reproduction produces an overflow of plant life and may cause plant domination over other less successful species. Also, the introduction of new plant life causes confusion among animals as to what the unrecognizable species is. In some cases, the invasive plant harms existing animals or plants in the ecosystem and may cause death. Ultimately, invasive species result in overpopulation and issues concerning the food chain.
Did you know that you happen to be surrounded by invasive species? These species are animals that come into areas they do not belong in. The articles, “Invaders among Us,” and “Invader Alert,” show this. They harm the environment, cost tons of money in damage and extermination, and they have to be prevented.
Invasive species as a whole have become a nuisance to many habitats and ecosystems around the world. What defines an invasive species is the following. It must be a species that is foreign to the habitat it resides in, have no natural predators which allow it to reproduce in such a rapid manner, and out compete native animals of food and shelter (Rosenthal 2011). These characteristics are what create such high populations of these invasive species in various habitats around the globe.
Invasive species are non-native organisms that occupy habitats and disrupt the natural ecological cycles of the habitat. They threaten the biodiversity of an ecosystem and are biological pollutants Invasive species introduced into new habitats usually maximize their reproduction in their new home and crowd out native species. Their lack of natural predators in their new community allow for a proliferation in growth and expansion as a result of their abundant food supply. Once they are established, invasive species can rarely be eliminated because their new habitat is favorable for their survival.
Nonnative species can also be called alien, exotic, or nonindigenous. Their presence is due to humans dispersing them to other locations beside their native habitat, or by humans creating environmental conditions that allow their growth. When nonnative species begin to take over a new habitat and displace native species, they are then termed an invasive species. Nonnative invasive species are one of the biggest threats to ecosystems in North America (Cox, 1999) because they are able to have an impact on many levels, including ecosystems, communities, and populations (Cushman, Tierney, & Hinds, 2004).
Invasive species are organisms that harm a new environment that they are not native to. Many invasive species like Eurasian milfoil are easily able to reproduce and can do so fast. Due to this, the limited space in a body of water or area of land is quickly taken over by the invasive species so other native plants face the risk of death or even extinction. Overall, these invasive species can do great harm to an ecosystem or an economy, causing problems that are destructive to numerous organisms.
The piece I chose to do my literary analysis on was the article, The Truth About Invasive Species, written by Alan Burdick. The article states that invasive species are all around us, but the area with the most prominent amount is the suburbs of Miami. It goes into detail about how abundant invasive species are in this area. Most people who would see a strange animal in their lawn or area would be bemused, however for the people of Southern Florida, this is a recurring scene. Burdick states that “virtually everyone in the South Florida, including Hardwick, has a neighbor with a backyard menagerie of lucrative critters on hold for resale”. Burdick describes both how an invasive species is introduced into an ecosystem, and the impact the have on other species upon their arrival.
...and especially to the ecosystem with the killing of those animals and primarily the poisons that they use can totally destroy an ecosystem and do much more harm than good.
Some introduced species become a small part of the landscape, while others thrive at the expense of native plants and wildlife. When an introduced species puts additional stresses on native wildlife and threatens habitats, it's called an invasive species. Invasive exotic (nonnative) species are seriously threatening the integrity of south Florida's native communities. With exotic fishes devouring native fish species and melaleuca trees shading out indigenous plants, the Florida Everglades is suffering from a barrage of pressures brought on by nonnative species. Far from their native homelands, these invaders have a competitive advantage over native species. Because nonnative species typically lack natural predators, they can outcompete native species. They can multiply unchecked, using up valuable resources such as sunlight, water, and nutrients. Native species suffer from this intense competition. In addition to the environmental havoc they wreak, invasive exotic species have major economic impacts. This economic effect is magnified in Florida where the climate and landscape are favorable to the establishment of invasives. Despite best efforts, many of these alien invaders are here to stay. Their spread, however, may be controlled by putting a stop to the release of non-native plants and animals into the wild and by aggressively managing species that are
The wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park improved the park’s ecosystem greatly! An example of this can be found in the article “In the Valley of the Wolves,” which states “Now, nearly a dozen years since the wolves returned, the recovery of that same system to its natural balance is well underway, says ecologists William Ripple and Robert Bescheta of Oregon State University” (“In the Valley”). The article explains that the ecosystem has started to recover and is continuing to recover because of the wolf reintroduction. Another example is from “In the Valley of the Wolves,” “… wolves affect elk; elk affect aspen; and therefore wolves affect aspen” (In the Valley”). In other words, if there were no wolves to eat the elk, there would be more elk eating the aspen, and aspen is a huge factor in Yellowstone’s ecosystem. Without the gray wolf, Yellowstone’s ecosystem might function, but not to the best of its abilities.
Zipkin, Elise F., Kraft, Clifford E., Cooch, Evan G., and Sullivan, Patrick J., “When Can Efforts to Control Nuisance and Invasive Species Backfire?,” Ecological Applications, Vol. 19, No. 6 (2009): 1585-1595, accessed October 11, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40346271.
The term invasive species is described as a species that is introduced into an area in which it is not native. This species has the potential to cause a negative effect to the native species and other biotic factors in those surroundings (Invasive Species, n.d). Any kind of living organism can be a potential invasive species, including the seeds and eggs of an organism (Invasive Species, n.d). These species can be brought into an area any number of ways but are usually a result of human activity (Invasive Species, n.d). Although, it has been discovered that protected areas can be impacted by invasive species, possibly more so than non-protected areas (Hoopes et al., 2013).
Countless lives locked away in cages and forgotten about have overwhelmed our society, it has left blood stains on our history as a species and if history has taught us anything, it’s that we have a choice to change our ways of adjusting to situations. A war which was fought in pursuit of ending such criminal means, yet we as human beings do little to nothing to end the horrific crimes of animal deaths in shelters. It is no secret that this world has become infused with problems that have extended from one side of the globe to the other. Amongst these problems lies a terrible truth: nearly every year, sums of almost eight million cats and dogs have been placed in shelters around the world. Out of these vast numbers, half will be euthanized; that equals to one animal being put down every 8 seconds. Animals that are not adopted are kept in shelters until they find a home. Most of these shelters do not have enough space or resources to care for the animal. Only 15% of dogs and 2% of cats that enter animal shelters are reunited with their owners. The majority of pets are obtained from acquaintances and family members. Twenty-six percent of dogs are purchased from breeders, 20 to 30 percent of cats and dogs are adopted from shelters and rescues, and 2 to 10 percent are purchased from pet shops. In addition, only 56% of dogs and 71% of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. The 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered, while 78 percent of dogs and 88 percent of cats are not spayed or neutered, in 2009 Statistics from animal shelters in 55 counties in WV (West Virginia) shows that nearly 54% of all animals entering shelters are euthanized, The euthanasia rates ranged from the lowest at 5% to the highe...
When people think of invasive species, they normally do not think of the human species, but why not? There is a large debate about whether or not humans are an invasive species. Before people debate whether or not the human race is an invasive species, they should know the definition of one. The legal definition of an invasive species in the United States is “an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health” (Zielinski). The International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, defines an invasive species as “animals, plants or other organisms introduced by man into places outside their natural range of distribution, where they become established and disperse, generating a negative impact on the local ecosystem and species” (Zielinski).
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).
One of the big causes of extinction or the endangerment of species is foreign species entering a habitat. This species that are not native to the land can disrupt the food web in that community. These species take control of the food web and endanger some of the other species. The native species become endangered and over the course of many years they either adapt to their new way or life, the foreign predator leaves or is killed off due to the different environment, or the species is killed off and becomes extinct. Organizations like the “World Wild Li...