Invasive Species Author’s Name Institutional affiliation Date

Invasive species are non-native (plants or animals) to an ecosystem and their introduction is probable to cause human health, environmental, or economic damage in the ecosystem. Africanised bee (Apis hybrid), hybrid of European and African honeybees, is an invasive species in U.S.A. It invaded into Southwestern U.S northwards from Brazil (origin). The species can be curbed by cold temperatures (mild winter) which renders them inactive (Emerton, 2008). They (killer bees) attack violently and usually entail many stings, which, when accumulated, are fatal to people and animals. The thriving population of lionfish in Atlantic Ocean affects us by reducing the resources available for commercial fishing industry. Lionfish feed on small crustaceans, coral reefs, and young fish (inclusive of the young of vital commercial fish). Lionfish’s venomous spines are very painful to the human body. Natural predators and groupers are set to remedy this hazard since the available potential predators cannot alleviate the lionfish available in the Ocean. Spearing and eating them is also remedying the situation. Zebra mussels are invasive species in the Great Lakes. They were inadvertently brought into Lake St. Clair, after which they spread all through the Great Lakes. They caused harsh problems at municipal water supplies, power plants, clogging intake screens, cooling systems, and pipes. They have also alleviated, nearly, the ecosystem’s clam population.

Group of organism | Percentage of total introduced | Number of species introduced | Percentage of total annual costs | Annual economic costs | Plants | 50.2 | 25,100 | 27.2 | $34.7 billion | Microbes | 40.0 | 20,000 | 20.2 | $25.7 billion | Arthropods | 9.0 | 4,500 | 15.7 | $20.0 billion | Fish | 0.28 | 140 | 4.2 | $5.4 billion | Birds | 0.19 | 95 | 1.5 | $1.9 billion | Mollusks | 0.18 | 90 | 1.7 | $2.2 billion | Reptiles and amphibians | 0.11 | 55 | 0.009 | 11.5 million | Mammals | 0.04 | 20 | 29.4 | $37.5 billion | TOTAL | 100 | 50,000 | 100 | $127.4 billion |

Invasive plants can be introduced via: disposal of wastewater or solid waste (seeds, propagules, roots spread via wastewater discharge and spread by flowing water to distant areas) and moving and piling fill in wetlands (seeds and viable plant-parts in fill material can rapidly the strange substrate, which then competes with alien species in the wetlands). The invasion can be controlled by: interference with dispersal (fencing and construction of barriers), mechanical removal (mowing, harvesting, trapping, manual removal, and culling), and chemical control (use of appropriate herbicide or pesticide) (Emerton, 2008).
A keystone species refers to a species exhibiting a disproportionately great effect on its surroundings rather than its abundance. It maintains the pattern of an ecosystem. The herbivorous weevil Euhrychiopsis lecontei is an example of keystone species.
Primary succession entails colonization (by an ecological community) of a new area. For example, grass-> shrub-> trees-> oak hickory forest. Climax community is achieved once the species in the ecosystem adapt to the regional conditions. The time taken, to attain it, depends on the regional climate.
(a). Six large fires are actively burning.
(b). 258,751 acres are covered by the fires.
(c). Year-to-date statistics: 41,165 fires covering 3,095,240 acres.
A simple food web is more prone to disturbance rather than complex food web. The former is always diminished by loss of any member.
Biodiversity is the extent of life variation, while species diversity is the variation of different species in an ecosystem (Sala, 2009).
During succession, some species might die due to incompetence of adapting to the new climatic conditions. Farming and fires will inhibit succession by destroying the ecosystem’s habitat.
References
Emerton, L. & G. Howard (2008). A Toolkit for the Economic Analysis of Invasive Species. Global Invasive Species Programme, Nairobi.
Sala, Osvaldo E., Meyerson, Laura A., Parmesan, Camille (2009). Biodiversity change and human health: from ecosystem services to spread of disease. Island Press. Pp. 3-5.