exoticspecies.pptVIP

Exotic species * First, a few essential terms… native/indigenous – living naturally in a given area prior to colonization by humans exotic/nonindigenous/alien – introduced outside its native range (generally implies human involvement) naturalized – non-native species that is established (implies acceptance of species in new area by humans) nuisance – species that has adverse impacts on human activities (does not imply that it is exotic) invasive – spreading rapidly in numbers and in space What makes a good invader? tend to be generalists – diet, habitat (often broad native range) tend to have high fecundity, genetic variability, be hardy/robust vegetative or clonal reproduction ability to spread rapidly – high dispersal rates phenotypically plastic General principles of invasions Invaded habitats tend to be disturbed or depauperate low native species diversity empty niches – esp. after disturbance absence of predators for invader highly stable, speciose ecosystems are less vulnerable to invasion overharvested systems are particularly vulnerable General principles of invasions Most invasions fail – probably less than 10-40% succeed starlings in NYC Great Lakes – flounder, S. American catfish… zebra mussels Predictability of success is low pink salmon in Great Lakes Not all successful invaders cause problems brook silverside in Lake Champlain Types/routes of introductions Deliberate introductions as harvestable species – plants, fishes, rabbits in Australia, terrestrial plants (crops) Nile perch introduced into Lake Victoria - to compensate for loss of natives due to overfishing - responsible for loss of over 200 species of cichlids Types/routes of introductions Deliberate introductions as harvestable species – plants, fishes, rabbits in Australia, terrestrial plants (crops) domesticated species Types/routes of introductions Deliberate introductions as harvestable species – plants, fishes, rabbits