One of the biggest impacts that humans have had on the...

One of the biggest impacts that humans have had on the environment is to introduce non-native species to new environments. Such species can seem innocuous, but can decimate native habitats, populations, and communities. For this Discussion Board post, do an Internet search to identify and choose one such invasive species. Create a thread on the Discussion Board and address the following questions about your chosen invasive species: How did the animal or plant get there in the first place? Why is it so successful? What impact is it having on the native environment? How can the damage be reduced? Is there a point where an invasive species should be considered part of the native flora and fauna, or should we always try to eliminate an invasive species?

Transcript

00:01 All right, so this question is asking us to identify a non -native or invasive species.

00:12 And talk a little bit about that.

00:15 So the case study that i'm going to use, because the first thing that comes to my mind when i think of invasive species, i think of zebra mussels invading the great lakes region of the united states.

00:31 States.

00:32 So first off, zebra mussels are a type of freshwater muscle.

00:44 They were introduced to the great lakes region sometime in the 1980s.

00:52 And we think they came from the ballast water, from large shipping cargo ships from europe and russia.

01:03 And so when those ships release their ballast water, if it contains zebra mussels or their larva, it'll introduce them to, you know, that new area.

01:15 And so we think that's how zebra mussels became first introduced in the great lakes.

01:21 And then why are they so successful? i just wrote down a few bullet points of some traits that all invasive species share.

01:34 And so all invasive species are going to be habitat and diet generalists.

01:39 That means they can eat just about anything and they can live just about anywhere.

01:45 And so that really gives them a lot more opportunities to start developing and, you know, developing a niche in their new interiors.

01:58 Habitat because they don't have to be picky of what they eat and where they live.

02:06 And then also they can reproduce quickly and they have few natural predators.

02:12 And so if that invasive species can reproduce quickly, often the offspring will survive to adulthood because there are a few natural predators in this new environment that it has invaded.

02:23 So these are all true for zebra mussels.

02:29 They can gain hold just about anywhere.

02:33 And they are filter feeders.

02:34 So they basically just filter all that, you know, find particular organic matter out of the water column.

02:42 And they can pretty much eat any of that.

02:45 And they produce very quickly...