Purple loosestrife is perennial plant, which can grow up to 1~1.5 metres tall. Its stems are reddish purple and its cross-section is square. Its flowers are reddish purple, too. Fruits of purple loosestrife are small capsule that containing seeds in it. Their seeds spread by wind, water, wild animals, and humans. They were introduced to North America by soil that used as ballast in European sailing ships and early settlers. Also, it was used by bee keepers as large source of nectar. Currently, purple loosestrifes spread all around the Canada, but they are now being controlled.
There are many probable methods of introduction of purple loosestrifes. The first probable method is soil that used as ballast in European sailing ship. Since they were discarded in North America, they spread by wind across the Canada. Also, early European settlers were brought plants for their garden. Second probable method is beekeepers’ usage of purple loosestrifes to get more nectar. By beekeepers and early settlers, purple loosestrifes were introduced to Canada.
Purple loosestrifes reduce biodiversity by degrading natural habitats such as wetlands and replaces native vegetation rapidly. They blocks native plants to grow by forming dense mats with their roots. If native vegetation being replaced with purple loosestrifes, it will impact animals, too. In wetlands, hundreds of species rely on native vegetation for their shelter, food source, and breeding to survive. They will lose their habitat by purple loosestrifes’ invasion since none of them solely depends on purple loosestrifes as their food source or shelter. Since they change many factors of the invaded ecosystem, most of flora and fauna will be affected and it will lead to the reduction of the b...
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...orating garden even the government let us to buy them for gardening. Instead, we should be able to recognize and report purple loosestrifes in wildlife in order to protect biodiversity.
Works Cited
“Purple Loosestrifes: An Exotic Menace” http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/bb/documents/bb-45.pdf “Purple Loosestrife | Ontario’s Invasive Species Awareness Program” http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/plants-terrestrial/purple-loosestrife/ “Alien Invasive Aquatic and Wetland Plants: Purple Loosestrife” http://purpleloosestrife.org/uploads/fs_purpleloosestrifeplel.pdf “Purple Loosestrife Project Manitoba” http://purpleloosestrife.org/ “Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) ” http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@biodiversity/documents/document/stdprod_104404.pdf “Purple Loosestrife”
http://www.lakeheadca.com/lsstrife.htm
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.
Foreign plants which turn into weeds are continuously being introduced to Australia both accidentally and intentionally. They can cause extreme damage to Australia’s environment, as they threaten the survival of many native plants. They are successful in growing as they - usually grow faster than native plants competing for nutrients, water, space etc, they survive better as they do not have the pests and diseases that would normally control them in their natural habitats, they take over the native plants that the native animals use for shelter, food and nesting. The Cobblers peg (Bidens pilosa) also known as farmers friend, Spanish needle and beggars tick was introduced from South America and has become a weed in Australia. Individual flowers are yellow with white petals and do not last for very long, eventually turning into seeds.
any new plants or the selling of the weed in nurseries and join the Ontario
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.
Timmons, J. B., Alldredge, B., Rogers, W. E., & Cathey, J. C. (2012). Feral hogs negatively affect native plant communities. Informally published manuscript, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M , College Station, TX, Retrieved from http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/files/2010/04/feral-hogs-native-plants.pdf
The expansion of European plants into the New World commenced with Columbus's second voyage (Crosby, 67). Columbus loaded his seventeen ship fleet with seeds and crop-producing fruits ...
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
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.
Their findings contributed to a further explanation of the definition of an invasive species. It was concluded that invasive species are detrimental to the environment that they are invading. Jackson (2015) mentioned that negative relationships among invaders are a particular concern since it is possible that both of the invasive species would need to be controlled in order for an area to rebound after invasion. Hoopes et al. (2013) concluded that native species on island refuges are more likely to be come extinct during an invasion compared to those of mainland refuges. These results also help to confirm the importance of understanding invasive species from a conservation point of view since invasive species are a major threat to native populations in their
The “disturbed preserves” are areas in which there has been human alteration of the landscape, whether it be infrastructural installations or beaten trails, that has then been left alone. These areas are recovering forests that normally transition from primary growth to secondary, but are made vulnerable through these artificial developments that alter the dynamics of the landscape in which the native species would emerge. Consequently, these sites, which are protected via the Lullwater Management Plan regardless, have grown into monoculture communities that consist usually of only one or two invasive species. The most aggressive invasive within Lullwater is Ligustrum sinense (Chinese Privet), which is a semi-evergreen shrub of great phenotypic plasticity, allowing it to invade and thrive in a wide range of habitats. Figure 2 is a dam and culvert constructed in 2003, which
A plant with opposite leaves, white to dark gold flowers in the spring, and tiny red berries in the fall, emerges as the Amur Bush Honeysuckle. The root of the Honeysuckle is from birds planting the seeds. Amur Bush Honeysuckle is an extremely invasive plant species that was brought over from Asia, to southern Ohio in the late 1950s, however, it is a non-native species (harvard.edu, 1997). This plant grows at rapid speeds with a large ability to reseed. When Honeysuckle is planted, it tends to take over uncontrollably and decrease the growth of other species around it.
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).
Whitted, Q. (2004, September 20). Arts & Culture. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from New Georgia Encyclopedia: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/color-purple
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...