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Invasive species research paper
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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 human are an invasive species. Before people debate about 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 out of their natural range of distribution, where they become established and disperse, generating a negative impact on the local ecosystem and species” (Zielinski). If we recognize that the human race is an invasive species then we can take steps to lessen the places we are at, the damage we do to the environment, and the damage we do to other species. Even with the various definitions of an invasive species there are still some
If people recognize that the human race as an invasive species then they can take steps to the give nature back some of it's space, they can restore the environment instead of damaging it, and they can save animals instead of killing them to extinction. Humans can be found on every landmass, water mass, and even soaring the skies. Humans are the cause of environment damaging things like acid rain and global warming. People also damage other species by killing them till extinction or causing things like oil spills that cause them to die. Why destroy the only place the human species lives on, instead people can spend their time restoring the planet and making it better, they can learn to coexist with other species instead of learning how to be the dominant and overpowering
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.
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).
Global change is taking place every day; therefore, it is important to understand how human activities and behavior alters the biodiversity and functions of ecosystems. Alien species is a stimulator of major changes in ecosystems (Vila et al. 2011). An invasive species, is a non-native plant, animal, or fungus that moves to a new ecosystem in a foreign environment. Invasive ecology explores how the invasive species affect the economic, environmental, and human health on the new environment. For example, invasive ecology studies how an invasive species tends to crowd out and sometimes replace a native species (Richardson and Pysek 2008).
Through millions of years of evolution, well-balanced habitats have co-evolved to provide for the wide variety of species and their needs. Trees have adapted to weeds, weeds have adapted to the predation from herbivores, and so on up the food chain. Similar scenarios are seen throughout the world. Through the process of natural selection, specific species or broad species families will go extinct. However, these occurrences have largely been due to the natural flow and evolution of time. It wasn’t until recently that dominant species, such as humans, have taken the course of nature into their own hands.
We, as humans, mistreat the animal population. On a smaller scale, the human population wastes domestic and wild, animals for medical testing, for their fur, and for entertainment such as dog fighting. These things may not seem to be globally threatening, yet the constant waste of certain species of animals and the destruction of an animal's natural habitat will lead to the endangerment and eventually the extinction of the species. Furthermore, many people are unaware that the world is currently in the midst of the largest mass extinction in history.
Beginning with the creation of the world, hunting has been over thousands of years for a number of reasons. Nowadays, hunting is considered one of the most interesting outdoor activities that have many advantages. However, hunting is a very controversial topic, for some might consider it very harmful and dangerous for the environment. Although this point of view is adopted by a part of the society, one can counter it with a numerous reasons. Hunting provides several benefits for those who partake in it and for the environment as well.
Invasive species only started to show up in the United States when the Europeans started to arrive. Beforehand, very limited contact was made in this particular region of the world, so very few invasive species came into North America. When the Europeans arrived in 1492, after Columbus discovered North America, they brought their own culture and essential food and animals with them. At first, it was just the basics of maize, wheat, pumpkins, and squash, but later on it also included cows, chickens, and horses . As more Europeans flocked into the country, non-native species began to appear in the area. Often, as non-native species appeared it led to unintended consequences of destroying gra...
Conservationists and the ranchers that are having financial issues caring for their animals, without utilizing hunting, can take advantage of other resources to gain revenue. The ranch operators need to find alternatives to gain a source of income such as acquiring sponsors, donations, conducting guided tours or perhaps, providing educational programs. There are more humane methods of earning money than the killing of animals. Making use of the public's curiosity and interests is a resourceful tactic that can be very successful and beneficial to the economy.
Often populace will argue that this group of people are not doing their part as American citizens and paying taxes but what these people do not know is; most illegal immigrants do. As Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia has reported, “In 2006 an estimated 8 million illegal immigrants—up to two thirds of the total—paid taxes, including both income taxes and Medicare and Social Security taxes” (Dalmia). Everyone who makes a purchase in the U.S. pays sales taxes, regardless of of their immigration status. Also as an effect of avoiding their taxes could result in deportation as a consequence, therefore Illegal immigrant are more cautious of errors.
America is one of the most diverse country who has almost every single race in the world. Even though they came from varieties of backgrounds, ethnicities, and races, they can work and help together as one as they live in the same country, America. However, as the time goes by, there is more and more people who come to the United States with the intention of becoming an American citizen. A lot of people came to the Unites States have a holiday here, yet as the limited time goes by, they did not go back to their country because they still want to live in the United States. As a result, nowadays, there are a lot of illegal immigrant who do not have a legal permit to stay in the United States. They are being treated the same as an American citizen, however, they do not do the same to the country. Moreover, they do not have to be responsible for America as they do not have to pay tax, yet they can make a living by working illegally without paying
Immigration is one of the most common disputes in the United States, let’s define what immigration stands for. Immigration is the act of coming to a foreign country to live, the act of leaving one 's country to settle in another is called emigration. Immigrants who leave their country because of persecution, war, or disasters such as famines or epidemics are known as refugees or displaced persons.
“The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Scaling to 46 years, human have been here 4 hours, the industrial revolution began 1 minute ago, and in that time, we’ve destroyed more than half the world’s forests.” - Unknown. One major environmental problem in our world is deforestation - what is that, you ask? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, deforestation is the action or process of clearing of forests. Some consequences of this include a large contribution to global warming and climate change (about 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year), loss of biodiversity especially in tropical rainforests, and the extinction of many known or yet to be discovered species. But, through some Debt-for-Nature Swaps, leaving forests
Humans are destructive. Not a lot of us think about how what we do affects the world around us. We almost act like we are the only ones on this planet. We go around polluting and destroying our world with no regard for our actions. The things that live out in the wild are paying the price for it. Every day that passes there is another animal or plant that is placed on an endangered list. This is happening at an alarming rate. Because of man’s desire to expand and conquer their surroundings, there are animals and plants that are on the brink of extinction that will not be around for our kids and future generations to enjoy if something is not done about it now. This problem has been going on for hundreds of years. There are animals and plants that can only been seen in paintings or early photography. It is because of our early ancestors that we have this problem today and we have to do more to prevent more animals and plants from disappearing forever.
Invasive species, (also known as invasive alien species or simply alien species) are defined as any organism (plant, animal, pathogen, or other living thing) that is alien (non-native) to an ecosystem, which can cause adverse economical, ecological, or health effects to native species and/or humans. The roots of these problems all stem from the massive negative ecological impact these organisms are having on the environment (CBD, 2009). For all animal extinctions where the cause is known since the 1600’s, invasive alien species have been a contributing factor 40% of the time (CBD, 2006); the second most contributing factor to extinctions after loss of habitat (GC, 2013). By eliminating native species through competition for resources, predation, and transmittal of disease, invasive species continue to reduce biodiversity in almost all ecosystems around the world (CBD, 2009). In the future, this problem may worsen, and if no action is taken, could lead to a cascading ecological problem so large that whole communities or even ecosystems could collapse.
Everyone’s all seen those wildlife shows on tv. The shows on National Geographic and such, showing animals in beautiful environments, everything lush and growing and nothing at all wrong that could threaten these creatures and places. But, have anyone seen the other side? The side where all these beautiful creatures and plants starve, are decimated by predators that have never been there before, and sometime even become poisoned by their very own homes and habitats? Of course no one has. That doesn’t mean that its not happening. It is happening, and its happening everywhere. And guess who is to blame? People. Society. Humans as a race pollute the environment, hunt animals simply for their parts, fish way more than humans will ever need just for the sake of money, introduce new species to new places for our own gain, and even purposefully destroy entire regions just for human expansion. And its starting to take its toll. While it is true that nature is constantly in flux and certain species come and go, humans are causing more species to disappear in the past few hundred years then nature has ever caused since the age of the dinosaurs, and therefore it is up to humans to repair the damage caused, be it cleaning the environment and habitats of these creatures, or taking more direct action to protect and preserve the species that are on the brink of extinction.