invasive species. The most dangerous invasive species of animals that destroy entire ecosystems Asian carp goes to eat the Great Lakes

SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL № 14, Tver

Work theme:

INVASIVE SPECIES -

TERRITORY INVADERS

Completed by: student of 9 "B" class

MOU secondary school No. 14, Tver

Lobacheva Natalia
Leader: geography teacher

MOU secondary school No. 14, Tver

Dmitrieva Elena Evgenievna

Tver, 2014

Introduction 3
Chapter 1.Chapter 1. Invasive (invasive) species……….………….…. 5

1. 
   The etymology of the concept " "invasive" look» ………………………. 5
2. 
   Andintroduction…… ……………………………………. ………... ... …… 6

.……… .. ………......… 7

1.4. Ecological introduction / reintroduction……..………...…….10

Chapter 2 Characterization of invasive species………………………………12

2.1. The most dangerous invasive species peace ….…………………..…… 12

2.2. The most aggressive invasive species……………….……..……… 15
2.3.Invasive species of Russia………………………………………..…… 22

Chapter 3. Expansion of alien species……………………………………… 29

References 35
Applications…………………………………………………………………….37

Introduction

Aggressive alien species introduced from other regions (often even from other continents), which spread through the fault of man, produce offspring in very large numbers and spread over a considerable distance from their parents, are called invasive species. They are characterized by active introduction into local communities, in which they often displace native plant species. Invasive Species Invasion - Severe ecological problem all over the world, leading to the so-called« floristic pollution of the territory, considered to be the second most important threat biodiversity(after habitat destruction).

The study of the process and results of naturalization of alien species isurgent task of our time and became the reasontopic selection my work: Invasive Species: Territory Invaders.

Object of study: fauna - like historically established set of speciesanimalsliving in a given area and included in all of itsbiogeocenoses.

Subject of study are animals (organisms that make up part of the organic world).

Target: conduct a comprehensive analysis of the study of invasive animal species.

Tasks:

1. 
   To study the etymology of the concepts "invasive species" and "introduction".
2. 
   Identify the most dangerous and aggressive invasive animal species.
3. 
   Determine the consequences of the introduction of invasive species.

Practical significance of the study. The obtained materials can be used in the course of biology (botany and ecology), to expand ecological culture schoolchildren and will be transferred to the Rospotrebnadzor of the Tver region to increase the attention of the relevant organizations to preserve the uniqueness of the flora and fauna of the Tver region.

The main working method has become a method of selection, systematization and classification of scientific articles on a given topic.

The work of 39 pages, consists of an introduction, 3 chapters, conclusion, list of references, applications.

Chapter 1. Invasive (invasive) species

1. 
   Etymology of the term "invasive" species

In the Western school, the study of invasive species is special discipline, defined as invasive plant ecology, in Russia these species are studied by florists as part of the adventitious floras of the regions and separately by specialists from other areas in terms of the biology and ecology of such species. As a rule, a set of species defined as "invasive" is part of a vast alien or adventive element of the flora, among which they stand out, first of all, by the ability to quickly spread and intrude into various types of cenoses. On the site Global Program on the study of invasive species, the following definition is given: “invasive alien species are alien ( non- native) organisms that cause or may cause damage to the environment, the economy or human health.”

So an invasive alien species means an alien species whose introduction and/or spread threatens biological diversity (species, habitats or ecosystems)¹.

Introduction- means the anthropogenic movement (direct or indirect) of an alien species outside its natural range.

Invasive ("aggressive") species negatively affect the local fauna and flora, which is why they become pests and quarantine objects.²

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² Negrobov S. O., Filonenko Yu. Ya.Ecological dictionary.- Lipetsk, Leningrad State University, 2001.

1.2. Introduction

Introduction (biological) (from lat. Introduction- "introduction") - intentional or accidental relocation of individuals of any species of animals and plants outside their natural range to new habitats for them. In other words, introduction is the process of introducing alien species into an ecosystem.

Introduced, or alien species (in biology) (from English. Introduced species) - non-indigenous, unusual for a given territory, deliberately or accidentally brought to a new place as a result of human activity.

The process of mastering an introduced species in a new place (adaptation to new environmental conditions) is called acclimatization.

Often introduced species can significantly change the existing ecosystem of the region and cause a significant reduction or even extinction of certain species of local flora and fauna.

Term introduced species for a number of reasons, it is often applied to close, but different concepts. In the same way, when describing the same case, other terms are used that are similar or close in meaning: they speak of acclimatized, adventitious, alien, exotic, invasive, naturalized, non-native, feral, xenobiotic, etc. species. there is a definite difference between some of these concepts.

Most often, the term “introduced” is used as a synonym for the word “alien”, and in this sense, according to the above definition, many horticultural and agricultural crops, such as potatoes, corn, which are widespread in the world, can be attributed to introduced plants. However, some sources add to this definition "...and reproduced in the wild", which leaves out the definition of all cultivated crops that are not able to reproduce without human intervention. For such plants, the term "cultivated" or "ornamental" species¹ is used.

There is some confusion as to whether "invasive" and "introduced" species are fully synonymous. Literally invasive are those species of organisms that, being introduced, capture new territories in a new place, harming the existing ecosystem, that is, they become pests.. The term implies both actual and potential danger. Some dispute the notion of invasiveness, arguing that the extent of the damage is usually beyond calculus, and organisms continue to spread to areas where they never existed, often without regard to whether they can cause harm or not².

1.3. Accidental and deliberate introduction

According to the definition, a species is considered introduced if it has been transferred from its natural range to a new territory as a result of human activity. The introduction can be either intentional or accidental. The intentional introduction of new species was motivated by the fact that these species would be useful to a person in a new place and increase his well-being. So, in connection with the development of new territories, agricultural crops, livestock and wild animals were imported that could diversify the local fauna.

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¹ http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/ruwiki/294598

² Introduction and methods of culture of flower and ornamental plants. - M.: Nauka, 1997. - 168 p.

accidental introduction was a by-product, often unwanted human life- so, the Colorado potato beetle, rats, cockroaches and synanthropic species of fruit flies spread widely. Further distribution of introduced species is already new territory can occur both with the help of a person and independently.

intentional introduction. Organisms deliberately transported by humans can adapt to a new location in two different ways.

1. 
   In the first case, they are specially released into the wild. It is often difficult to predict whether a plant or animal will get along in a new place or not, and sometimes, in the event of an initial failure, repeated attempts were made in the hope that new individuals would improve the survival and reproduction of the species.
2. 
   In the second case, the distribution in the wild outside the natural range occurred against the will of man: the animals ran away to freedom and ran wild, and the plants began to grow outside the gardens, household plots and agricultural land.

Sometimes alien species of animals appear due to the passion for sport hunting and fishing - thus the species used for bait salamander tiger ambistoma (Ambystoma tigrinum) appeared in California, where it displaces a local endemic species California ambistyoma (Ambystoma californiense). Occasionally common domestic animals such as cats, goats, pigs and parrots become wild. Such a new neighborhood does not always benefit the local fauna and flora: for example, feral cats on islands where seabirds unaccustomed to terrestrial predators nest cause a sharp decline in the population and even extinction of local species such as albatrosses and petrels. Settled since the time of the goat pirates on Galapagos Islands eat vegetation, due to which local iguanas survive. The Colorado potato beetle established itself in Europe during World War I and since then began his victorious march across the continent

Sometimes organisms travel with a person and independently find themselves in a new environment for them. For example, three types of rats (black, gray and small) lived in the holds of ships until they moored to a new territory for them. As a result, they are now found even on remote islands, which negatively affects the birds nesting there.

A large number of marine organisms such as shellfish river mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) accidentally ended up in a new location along with transported water used as ballast.

About 200 alien organisms have settled in San Francisco Bay, thus making it the most intruded estuary in the world.

In the first half of the 20th century, along with the potatoes being transported, it first came to France, and then the Colorado potato beetle entrenched throughout Europe, which caused considerable harm to agriculture.

Through botanical gardens and collectors of exotic plants, the North American Prickly lobed (Echinocystis lobata); with peasant settlers, he ended up in Central Asia; in Siberia, the ways of penetration of this species are associated with the development of tourism, the intensive development of horticulture. It sometimes occupies quite large spaces, both in the vicinity of settlements and quite far from them, and has a high activity for renewal and reproduction.

1.4. Ecological introduction / reintroduction

In addition, sometimes, due to a particularly alarming situation that threatens the existence of a species, some animals are relocated to similar climatic conditions for the purpose of preserving it. That's what happened to Chinese alligator, which, due to the loss of natural habitats in the Yangtze River valley, was on the verge of extinction. To create a reserve of the species, several alligators were relocated to the reserve Rockefeller Wild life in US state Louisiana.

Among the introduced species, there are not only animals and plants, but also various microorganisms - viruses, bacteria and fungi, including pathogens. The most widely known spread of the virus smallpox to the American continent along with the first conquistadors in the process of the so-called columbian exchange, as a result of which entire Indian civilizations were destroyed even before Europeans saw them.

In the XX-XXI century, a serious threat is the spread of fungi such as endothia parasitica, which causes chestnut endothium cancer, and Ceratocystis ulmi that causes elm disease ¹´²´³.

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¹http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki

³Primak R. Fundamentals of Biodiversity Conservation M., From the Scientific and Educational Center, 2002. 256 p.

Chapter 2. Characteristics of invasive species

2.1. The most dangerous invasive species in the world

The list of the 100 most dangerous invasive species was compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) invasive species team. It includes organisms that have had the greatest Negative influence on human activities and native species.¹ The list includes 56 animal species ( see table 1.), 36 types of plants, 3 types of fungi, 3 types of chromists, 1 type of protozoa and 2 viruses.

Table 1. The most dangerous animal species

¹http :// www. nature. su/item/1772

2.2 Most aggressive invasive species
cane toads . In 1935, 60,000 cane toads were released in Queensland, Australia to control insect pests of sugar cane, but these amphibians did not like sugar cane as a habitat, and they dispersed everywhere, leaving pests in perfect health.
Some individuals of cane toads can reach 40 cm in length. These amphibians also do not complain about poor appetite, literally everything goes to them. Unfortunately, the toxic secretions of the skin of toads were not to the taste of Australian predators, and the driest continent of the planet once again faced an uncontrolled increase in the number of aliens. What onlyways to deal with cane toadsthe Australians did not. To combat these amphibians, even cat food was used. Sprinkling cat food near the “place of deployment” of toads, scientists attracted the attention of ants, which attacked amphibians and their offspring. As a result of ant attacks, about 80% of all offspring of cane toads died.

snakehead fish ( snakehead ). This fish, reaching a length of one meter, was brought to Europe from East Asia. The European reservoirs, in which this voracious creature turned out, lost all living things in an instant. The most unpleasant thing was that this fish is able to crawl on its belly overland from one reservoir to another and at the same time breathe atmospheric air for four days.

common starling . Our compatriot Yevgeny Shiffelin, a major producer of medical preparations and lover of Shakespeare. In 1890, he released 60 birds in New York's Central Park, and 40 more the following year. The starlings liked the New World. Forming numerous states with a number of birds reaching up to a million, they make devastating raids on agricultural lands, causing annual damage to the American economy by 800 million dollars. In addition, birds cause many plane crashes.

Burmese python . Burmese pythons brought to the United States have bred in the south of the country. There are already 30,000 of them in the Florida National Park. Such a large snake, reaching a length of 6 meters, does not exist on the North American continent. natural enemies. Even alligators are found in the stomach of these snakes. According to American naturalists,global warmingwill contribute to the further advancement of these snakes to the north of the country.

Eastern gray squirrel . EThis type of squirrel was brought to the UK from North America. Local British red squirrels are smaller in size, and they have not been able to compete with larger and more aggressive comrades from across the ocean. In addition, foreigners brought a deadly virus from the New World, which began to "mow down" the populations of red squirrels in Great Britain. The authorities of Britain in every possible way stimulate the hunt for foreign squirrels, praising the taste and health benefits of squirrel meat.

African bees . Aggressive African bees were introduced to Brazil from Tanzania as a replacement for European honey bees. African bees took to the New World conditions and spread throughout Brazil and even crossed all the countries of Central America, ending up in the southern states of the United States. The victims of their aggression annually become a large number of animals and people.
Asian or Silver carp. The weight of individual individuals of the Asian carp can exceed 45 kilograms. Initially, this fish was brought to one of the ponds in the United States, but as a result of the flood, it ended up in the waters of the Mississippi River, where it successfully multiplied, “eating” local fish species.
Rats. Rats have already settled on 90% of the islands of the oceans. As a result, 60% of the bird and reptile species of most of the islands have disappeared forever. Rat Island is a classic example of such an island.. In 1789, as a result of the wreck of a Japanese ship, Norwegian rats ended up on the shores of this island. In just a few years, many species sea ​​birds disappeared from the island. In 2008 American authorities scattered packets of rat poison all over the island and thus stopped the rampage of rats.
Starfish. Looking like an alien invader, the starfish is a nightmare with skin covered in sharp needles. Usually starfish are 33 cm in diameter and have five rays protruding from the body, which are covered with razor-sharp spines that protect them from most predators. The stars themselves feed coral polyps. Starfish have become a problem in their native ecosystem due to environmental changes. Thanks to the insatiable appetite and fast pace breeding, each star in the "herd" can consume up to six m2 of coral reefs per year, destroying massive areas. Scientists believe that the too rapid increase in the number of starfish is caused by human-induced changes in the ocean ecosystem, primarily associated with an increased content of biogenic pollution.

Giant Canada Goose. Although Canada does not have a bird that serves as a symbol of the country, the vast majority of wildlife enthusiasts would attribute this role to the Canada goose, since there are more birds of this species in Canada than any other. Canada goose are responsible for the gradual destruction of the coastline along the mouth of the Gulf of Georgia. This area is of great importance as many species stop here. migratory birds in addition, it is the main habitat of salmon - a commercial fish that is under threat of extinction. Goose destroy natural environment habitats of many animals and are the cause of disturbances in the food chain.

Dark tiger python. The majority of invasive species are small animals, however, dark tiger pythons are huge and potentially deadly giants. They first appeared in national park Everglades (Florida), the world famous swamp region. This monster, brought to America by conquistadors, is one of the largest snakes on the planet, it grows up to five meters in length and weighs about 90 kg. Now the number of snakes in the Everglades reaches several thousand individuals, and this is more than in their original habitat in South Asia. Giant pythons, with their powerful jaws and sharp teeth, threaten to destroy the ecosystem of the wetland region as they quickly decimate native species, including the normally invulnerable American alligators.

Brown boyga. If a predatory invasive species ends up on an island, the native species usually lack the ability to cope with a threat that they have never encountered before. Coupled with the lack of predators higher up in the food chain, this could lead to the extinction of native species.

When brown boygies arrived on the island of Guam after World War II, in the cargo holds of ships, they caused the largest environmental disaster caused by introductions. Poisonous snakes destroyed most of the vertebrates native to the forests of the island, they also bite people, and their bites are very painful. In addition, the Boigis have caused frequent power outages as they have invaded human settlements. In safe conditions, boigas grow up to three meters in length due to an unnaturally large amount of food. To control the number of reptiles, the introduction of toxins into dead mice, which snakes love to eat, is used.

Domestic cat. Cats are second best friends humans, but they also have a reputation as the most dangerous invasive predators, as they intensively destroy the local fauna when they find themselves in a foreign environment. Through direct and indirect human assistance, stray cats have killed millions of continental songbirds, ill-equipped to fend off stealth attacks from a growing number of predators.

The presence of cats on the islands has catastrophic consequences: an unprecedented case is known when the cat of one person caused the complete extinction of one of the bird species in New Zealand - the Stefanov bush wren. On many islands and continents, invasive cats have reduced bird and small mammal populations. However, there is a downside: some scientists believe that cats can help people with population control. small predators such as rats.

Crab-eating macaque. Most often, ecologists call humans the main invasive species on the planet, but we rarely imagine monkeys in this role. However, crab-eating macaques are included in the list of the 100 most dangerous invasive species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Crab-eating macaques are carnivorous primates that have invaded a number of islands in an unnatural habitat for them thanks to human assistance. Like many terrestrial predators, crabeater macaques, which also have the rudiments of intelligence, threaten the reproduction of tropical birds and, according to some experts, may be responsible for the rapid extinction of already endangered species.

Macaques can also pose a danger to humans because they carry a deadly strain of the herpes virus that has symptoms similar to herpes simplex, but without proper treatment can lead to brain damage and death.

Cow corpse. Initially, cow trupials lived on the plains of North America, where they coexisted with buffaloes and fed on insects climbing around these large herbivorous insects. However, the increase in the number of buffaloes began to prevent the birds from building nests and raising offspring - then the cow corpses began to throw their eggs into the nests of other birds, which is why their own chicks of these species cannot develop normally.

In addition, the reduction forest areas in some habitats of trupials led to their spread to thousands of km2 of forests, where they caused a decrease in the number of forest songbirds, whose own chicks were doomed to starvation. However, cow corpses have managed to reduce even the rare Kirtland treeworts.

Colorado potato beetle- one of the most unusual species of insects in terms of its activity, which, already in the memory of people, switched to feeding on the leaves of cultivated potatoes (and to a lesser extent tomatoes, eggplants, etc.) from wild nightshade. The harmfulness of the beetle is determined by several factors. The fecundity of the beetle is very high, with one female usually laying about 700 eggs, and the maximum recorded fecundity was 3382 eggs. At the same time, depending on the climatic and geographical conditions, up to 3 generations of insects can be replaced during the warm period. In this case, theoretically, the offspring of one female can reach 30 million individuals by the end of the season. For a month, each beetle destroys more than 4 g of leaf mass, the larva - about 1 g. Depending on the degree of damage to the potato tops by pests, the yield can be significantly reduced. So, during the laying of tubers, the most sensitive to leaf damage, only 10 larvae of the Colorado potato beetle on a bush can reduce the yield by 10-15%, 15 larvae - by 50%, 40-50 larvae - by 100%. Uncontrolled reproduction of the pest can completely destroy the potato crop¹´².

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¹http://www.priroda.su/item/1772

²http://www.publy.ru/post/4985

2.3 Invasive species of Russia

The territory of Russia, of course, is no exception, it is also subject to invasions of alien species of plants and animals. In some cases, the status of pests is gradually acquired by intentionally imported (introduced) species (more often this applies to vertebrates and ornamental plants). Usually, potentially dangerous species are brought in accidentally with various products and goods, with transport (or on it), with personal luggage of passengers, as a result of ill-conceived imports for the purpose of study, and even smuggling.

There are conditionswhich allow classifying specific species, for example, the flora of Central Russia, as invasive:

• 
  the species is alien (adventive) for most regions of Central Russia;
• 
  the species must be noted in at least 70% of all regions that make up Central Russia;
• 
  in regions where the species is present, it must be at the stage of epecophyte or agriophyte at least in part of the territory;
• 
  according to the results of long-term observations from the moment of the first discovery, the species shows a tendency to active dispersal;
• 
  the species may (but need not) be a source of economic damage¹.

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¹ http://www.sevin.ru/invasive/publications/panov_02_pr.html

Of course, the most extensive work has been carried out since the middle of the 20th century. Only in 1961-1971. up to 400 fish transportations per year were carried out. The fish were relocated both to regions remote from their natural range and to water bodies located close to their usual habitats.

A very clear example of the first case is pink salmon. The natural spawning range of this salmon is located mainly in the basin of the Far Eastern seas - from the Bering Sea to the Sea of ​​Japan.
From 1956 to 1987, pink salmon was periodically introduced into the rivers of the North-West region of Russia, belonging to the Barents and White Seas. Currently, this fish comes to spawn in the rivers from Murmansk to the Yugorsky Peninsula, and is also found off the coast of the British Isles, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Svalbard. But between the natural, Far Eastern range and the new distribution area, there are vast water areas of the Siberian shelf seas, in which pink salmon is not found.

Successfully passed the acclimatization of the Black Sea-Azov mullet mullet (Lisa aurata) in the Caspian Sea and the Far East pelengas mullet(Lisa lauvergnii) introduced into the Black Sea-Azov basin. Acclimatized in the same way vendace-ripusa (Coregonus albula) and a number of other species of this genus. Their natural range is confined to the basin Baltic Sea, and acclimatized them in the Ural River basin.

Highly famous example– successful remote acclimatization gambusia. The natural range of the gambusia is the water bodies of America: from the USA (Illinois and New Jersey) in the north to Argentina in the south. Gambusia is a small fish, from 3.5 to 7.5 cm long, and females are often larger than males. Gambusia's favorite food is mosquito larvae and pupae. It is because of this gastronomic predilection that these fish have become the most popular object of introduction and acclimatization in many countries where malaria was common.

In the second half of the 19th century from Western Europe imported for commercial cultivation rainbow trout (parasalmo mikissirideus) , then American smallmouth palia(Salvelina fontinalis) and a number of other types. However, this direction of acclimatization gained a truly wide scope only in the second half of the 20th century, when they began to import and release into ponds such species as peled (Coregonus peled), chir (Coregonus nasus),whitefish (Coregonus muksun), whitefish (Coregonus pidschian), white(Hypophalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) and others.

Intentional introduction also includes the release of aquarium fish into natural reservoirs. In Russia, however, there are few such examples. This is first of all guppies (Poecilla reticulata). Discarded by negligent aquarists, these American fish have adapted to live in rivers near heated water discharge sites and in warm settling ponds in Moscow, Tver, Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, Voronezh and some other cities. Another well-known example is the Far Eastern rotan firebrand(perccotus gleni), populated many reservoirs in the region of St. Petersburg and Moscow.

However, rotan settled in the waters of the European part of Russia, not only thanks to aquarists. It was brought here unintentionally. (We will tell in more detail about the history of the settlement of this amazing species in the next issues of our newspaper.) Among other fish that settled in the inland waters of Russia due to unintentional, accidental Amur chebachka (Pseudorasbora parva), "penetrated" from China into the basins of the Black and Seas of Azov, small star button (Benthophilus stellatus), brought from the mouths of the Black and Azov Seas to the Volga basin, chubby igloo fish (Syngnathus Abaster), settled in the reservoirs of the rivers flowing into the Black, Azov and Caspian Sea. All of them turned out to be undesirable components of ecosystems, but they have adapted to live and reproduce in them very successfully¹´².

The scale of the introduction of animal species (mammals, insects) for Russia at the level of subjects of the Russian Federation is shown on the maps ( rice. 12). The most uniform picture is shown by mammals, the deliberate introduction of which was carried out long time and in large areas in order to "enrich the local commercial fauna." The largest number of introducers was noted for Leningrad, Tver, Moscow, Voronezh, Ryazan, Tomsk, Sakhalin regions, Krasnodar and Primorsky territories, Dagestan, Bashkortostan. No relationship was found between the natural level of taxonomic diversity and the number of introducers. Apparently, the current picture is largely determined by the activity of scientific and practical organizations that introduced commercial species.

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¹ Zotova N.Yu. Problems of invasion and introduction of fish in Russia, "Biology", publishing house September 1, 2010

Fig.1.Number of introduced mammal species

Fig.2.Number of introduced insect species.

The distribution of regions by the number of introduced fish species demonstrates the deliberate nature of the introduction in the process of enrichment of the local commercial ichthyofauna. The largest number of species has been introduced in the Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Rostov regions and in Tatarstan.

Regions with a large number of introduced insects are associated with points of entry into Russia of various cargoes (ports, large railway junctions). And their distribution along the borders of the country reflects the unintentional nature of the introduction typical of this group.

Within the territory of former USSR settled about 100 alien species of herbivorous insects. In other regions of the world, the number of settled alien species of insects is much larger. There are more than 1,500 of them in the USA. Of the 600 most serious plant pests, 235 here are alien species. In Japan, out of 198 insect species of alien origin, 72% are classified as harmful (while the proportion of pests among local herbivorous species does not exceed 7%)

For 30 years, the area occupied in Russia by the Colorado potato beetle has increased 12,190 times. During the same period, the area occupied by the American white butterfly has increased 832 times here.

In general, it can be argued that at the current level of development of the process of introduction on the territory of Russia and neighboring countries it is not possible to capture the impact on the success of the introduction of the level of local biodiversity. In most cases, the distribution of introduced species is associated with cultural or significantly transformed natural ecosystems, and they are not part of natural communities. At the same time, the introduction leads to an increase in the level of biological diversity.

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¹Izhevsky S.S. Alien insects as biopollutants. Ecology. 1995. No. 2. pp.119-122. ²Izhevsky S.S. Penetration of alien herbivorous insects on the territory of Russia // Protection and quarantine rast. 2002. No. 1. With. 28-31.

Features inproduction process in Russia:

• 
  A large territory of the country with the virtual absence of internal control over the transfer of species;
• 
  The history of Russia is full of wars of a continental and regional nature, accompanied by intensive transportation of military and civilian goods, people;
• 
  For a long time on the territory of the USSR, a policy of resettlement and acclimatization of organisms was carried out in order to increase the productivity of ecosystems and obtain new food products;
• 
  The constant need to build roads, canals and reservoirs, large cities;
• 
  High level of commercial traffic and relatively weak control over the transfer of invaders across the state border;
• 
  Insufficiently developed legislation regarding introductions and accidental introduction of organisms from other countries;
• 
  Weak development information support monitoring of alien species and poor development of the system of education and enlightenment in the field of aggressive introduced species;
• 
  Weak funding for research on alien species;
• 
  Fairly widespread among the population are hobbies associated with home keeping and breeding of exotic plants and animals, some of which, once in natural habitats, turn into typical invasive species.

In nature, there are many species of animals that pose a danger to others, feed on them or act as dominants. This is not as scary as it seems at first glance - usually everything in nature is balanced in such a way that all species, despite the death of individual individuals, survive. However, the unimpeded invasion of predators into the habitat where they should not be leads to catastrophic consequences - species and entire ecosystems disappear, and sometimes even human dwellings turn out to be insufficient protection.

1. Starfish

Looking like an alien invader, the starfish is a nightmare with skin covered in sharp needles. Usually starfish are 33 cm in diameter and have five rays protruding from the body, which are covered with razor-sharp spines that protect them from most predators. The stars themselves feed on coral polyps.

Starfish have become a problem in their native ecosystem due to environmental changes. Thanks to their insatiable appetite and rapid breeding rate, each star in the "herd" can consume up to six m2 of coral reefs per year, destroying massive patches.

Scientists believe that the too rapid increase in the number of starfish is caused by human-induced changes in the ocean ecosystem, primarily associated with an increased content of biogenic pollution. As a result, programs have been implemented in some areas to destroy starfish using lethal toxins.

2. European starling

Starlings were brought to North America by nostalgic settlers, apparently under the influence of Shakespeare, who in one of his plays described the hero Eugene Scheffelin, a self-proclaimed messiah who called on everyone who left their homeland to lead a bird to a foreign land. 60 starlings were indeed delivered to America in this way, though much later, and released into the wild in Manhattan's Central Park.

Starlings quickly spread across the continent from Central America to Alaska: they invaded cities and fields, destroyed crops and partially or completely exterminated many native birds, including woodpeckers, tits and swallows.

Flocks of starlings threaten planes - once 62 people died due to the fact that a starling was sucked into the engine of an airliner. Despite large-scale control programs, the number of European starlings in North America is currently about 150 million individuals.

3 Giant Canada Goose

Although Canada does not have a bird that serves as a symbol of the country, the vast majority of wildlife enthusiasts would attribute this role to the Canada goose, since there are more birds of this species in Canada than any other. However, Canada is enough big country so that there is enough space for several subspecies of goose with different habitats and lifestyles.

Canada goose are responsible for the gradual destruction of the coastline along the mouth of the Gulf of Georgia. This area is of great importance as it is a stopover for many species of migratory birds, and it is also the main habitat for salmon, a commercially endangered fish.

Neil C. Doe, a wildlife researcher, has conducted field studies on the state of the mouth of the bay and published the results showing that geese are destroying the natural habitat of many animals and are causing disturbances in the food chain.

4. Dark tiger python

The majority of invasive species are small animals, however, dark tiger pythons are huge and potentially deadly giants. They first appeared in the Everglades National Park (Florida), the world famous marsh region. This monster, brought to America by conquistadors, is one of the largest snakes on the planet, it grows up to five meters in length and weighs about 90 kg.

Now the number of snakes in the Everglades reaches several thousand individuals, and this is more than in their original habitat in South Asia. Giant pythons, with their powerful jaws and sharp teeth, threaten to destroy the ecosystem of the wetland region as they quickly decimate native species, including the normally invulnerable American alligators.

State conservation authorities consider the extermination of snakes in this region one of the priorities, but to date, all measures taken have been ineffective.

5. Yeah (cane toad)

Yeah, or the cane toad, is living proof that introducing a second invasive species to control the numbers of one already existing invader can lead to even worse disasters. A huge toxic amphibian (some individuals can weigh about two kg and grow up to 23 cm in length) comes from Central and South America was introduced to the islands to reduce the number of beetles devouring sugarcane plantations.

Instead, in order to exterminate the beetles and calm down on this, the Aghas bred over a vast territory, bringing the local fauna into decline. They hunt, including predatory lizards, marsupials and songbirds, and even devastate the egg-laying of man-eating saltwater crocodiles.

As with other invasive species, the number of cane toads remains artificially high in the new environment due to the lack of predators that can feed on them and are resistant to toxins.

The proposal to reduce the population of toads with the help of viruses has raised concerns - in the future, such a measure could cause chain reaction and cause irreparable damage to the local fauna. By a strange coincidence, the natural toad toxin is currently being used to kill tadpoles.

6. Brown boyga

If a predatory invasive species ends up on an island, the native species usually lack the ability to cope with a threat that they have never encountered before. Coupled with the lack of predators higher up in the food chain, this could lead to the extinction of native species.

When brown boygies arrived on Guam after World War II, probably as stowaways in the cargo holds of ships, they caused the biggest environmental disaster ever caused by introductions.

Poisonous snakes have destroyed most of the vertebrates native to the forests of the island, they also bite people, and their bites are very painful. In addition, the Boigis have caused frequent power outages as they have invaded human settlements.

In safe conditions, boigas grow up to three meters in length due to an unnaturally large amount of food. To control the number of reptiles, the introduction of toxins into dead mice, which snakes love to eat, is used.

7. Plague rats and mice

On ships, not only people cross the oceans, but also their mortal enemies - rats and mice. Sometimes disease-carrying, rodents become a death sentence for the entire population of seabirds when they land with people ashore: they eat eggs, young and sometimes even adult petrels, puffins and other wetland birds that are not able to protect their nests from land-based predators. .

The presence of invasive rats contributes to the global extinction of seabirds: for example, rats exterminate up to 25,000 petrel chicks per year. No less dangerous are invasive house mice that harm species that are already endangered, for example, Tristan albatrosses: mice not only ruin their clutches, but also eat chicks alive.

8. Domestic cat

Cats are considered man's second best friends, but they also have a reputation as the most dangerous invasive predators, as they intensively destroy the local fauna when they find themselves in a foreign environment. Through direct and indirect human assistance, stray cats have killed millions of continental songbirds, ill-equipped to fend off stealth attacks from a growing number of predators.

The presence of cats on the islands has catastrophic consequences: an unprecedented case is known when the cat of one person caused the complete extinction of one of the bird species in New Zealand - the Stefanov bush wren.

On many islands and continents, invasive cats have reduced bird and small mammal populations. However, there is a downside: some scientists believe that cats can help humans control populations of small predators such as rats.

9 Crab Eating Macaque

Most often, ecologists call humans the main invasive species on the planet, but we rarely imagine monkeys in this role. However, crab-eating macaques are included in the list of the 100 most dangerous invasive species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Crab-eating macaques are carnivorous primates that have invaded a number of islands in an unnatural habitat for them thanks to human assistance.

Like many terrestrial predators, crabeater macaques, which also have the rudiments of intelligence, threaten the reproduction of tropical birds and, according to some experts, may be responsible for the rapid extinction of already endangered species.

Macaques can also pose a danger to humans because they carry a deadly strain of the herpes virus that has symptoms similar to herpes simplex, but without proper treatment can lead to brain damage and death.

10. Cow corpse

Initially, cow trupials lived on the plains of North America, where they coexisted with buffaloes and fed on insects climbing around these large herbivorous insects. However, the increase in the number of buffaloes began to prevent the birds from building nests and raising offspring - then the cow corpses began to throw their eggs into the nests of other birds, which is why their own chicks of these species cannot develop normally.

In addition, the reduction of forest areas in some habitats of trupials led to their spread to thousands of km2 of forests, where they caused a decrease in the number of forest songbirds, whose own chicks were doomed to starvation.

However, conservationists sometimes call cow corpses a natural invasive species, since their homeland was the same territories where they live now, no one brought them there. However, cow corpses have managed to reduce even the rare Kirtland treeworts.

10. Asian carp (Motley and silver carp)

Asian carp entered the Mississippi River basin as a result of flooding that overwhelmed ponds at farm ponds and sewage treatment plants. Carp was brought in by farmers to control rampant planktonic algae, and now this non-commercial filter-feeding fish is threatening to invade the Great Lakes as well. You may have seen on TV or on the Internet how Asian carp jump out of the water in hundreds, disturbed by the operation of outboard motors, then land on the bottom of the boats and injure the fishermen sitting in them. Fast growing and capable of reaching over 4 meters in length and over 40 kilograms in weight, they pose a serious threat to fisheries in the Great Lakes region.

9. Rabbits

After the rabbits, brought to Australia as a source of food in 1788, were released into the wild, their population increased dramatically. As a result, they began to eat a lot of grain crops and managed to spread far beyond countryside. Between 1901 and 1907, an extremely long (over 2,000 km) "rabbit fence" was built in Western Australia, at a total cost of £330,000.

Amazing Fact: its longest section, 1,833 kilometers (out of 5,614 kilometers), is the longest continuous fence in the world. Camels were brought here to help the workers maintain this fence in good condition. Finally, in 1950, the emergence of the myxomatosis virus made it possible to get rid of enough rabbits to bring their population to an acceptable size.

8. Water hyacinths

loving warm weather aquatic plants from South America and their beautiful flowers made people make a gross mistake - to bring them to their homes, where they quickly covered the water surface and thereby blocked the access of sunlight to other plants. As a result, this led to a decrease in oxygen in the water, causing damage to wildlife, which caused the death of other plants that provided food and shelter for fish and other aquatic animals. The overgrowth of water hyacinth has also caused the spread of mosquitoes. drowning out waterways in tropical and subtropical Africa, as well as in the southern United States and Mexico, hyacinths have now become a problem in Australia and Asia. Brought to the US in 1884 during the New Orleans World's Fair, they spread so quickly that they began to block shipping channels.

Amazing Fact: in 1910, a bill to bring hippos into Louisiana was only 1 vote short of solving the water hyacinth problem!

7. Kudzu

The fast growing and spreading Asian vine, also known as the Japanese arrowroot or kudzu, was brought to the United States in 1876 during the Philadelphia World's Fair and quickly expanded throughout the southeastern part of the country. Kudzu grows fast enough to kill native plants and shrubs, depriving them of light and nutrients. It is considered a noxious weed and has recently been found in Southern Canada.

6. Tilapia

Familiar members of the cichlid family to aquarium lovers, tilapia are a common all-purpose fish species raised in hatcheries for human consumption. Issued in different points world, by design or accident, these hardy fish have made it to all waterways that remain at least slightly warm (the minimum temperature required to survive is 7-11 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the year, and have developed a tolerance for fresh, brackish, and coastal salt water, often crowding out native species. In some places, they survived the cold winters, living near the warm waters of power plants. Breeding throughout the summer, and not just once a year, as many native species do, these voracious herbivores have entered the lakes of the African Rift Valley (especially spread in Lake Nyasa), where they have partially replaced, and even threaten to completely destroy, most of the 1000 or so native cichlid species.

5. Dreissena / Quagga mussels

Introduced into rivers in the Great Lakes region along with the ballast water of ocean freighters that travel the St. Lawrence River, they have invaded many other waterways in lakes and rivers, where they breed in such huge numbers that they cover the internal parts of boat engines and water intakes, and colonize every rock and ledge in their path. At first it seemed that the native fish of the Great Lakes did not eat zebrafish, but, apparently, they adapted to them and still began to eat them. Unfortunately, mussels, which act as a natural filter, accumulate large amounts of toxins and the fish that eat them end up contaminated with the same toxins and become unfit for food.

4. Toad-yeah

This world's largest toad (about 1 meter long) is native to Central and South America and was brought to Australia in 1935 in the hope that it would help reduce what farmers believed were harmful cane beetles that threatened harvest of sugar cane. Voracious toads began to reproduce the genus at a speed that no one expected from them. Eating almost everything that gets into their mouths (for example, some fed them mice and dog food, among other things), cane toads even eat their own tadpoles and everything that comes into their sight, with the exception of, of course, cane beetles, for which they were brought. To make matters worse, they release a milky-white toxin on the surface of their skin that often kills dogs, birds of prey, snakes, and lizards. Cane toads were so hated in Australia that such " sports entertainment”, like “aha-golf” and “aha-cricket”, where instead of balls they began to use toads!

3. Gray rat

Also known as Pasyuk or Barn Rat, this animal, originally from Northern China, has spread throughout the world (except probably Antarctica) by transportation on ships and other vehicles. Arguably the most "successful" mammals on Earth, these rodents spread disease and destroy millions of tons of human and animal food each year. Their numbers are only partially controlled through the use of cats and small dogs, and therefore more people lives in a certain area, the more rats you can find there.

2. Carp

An ancient Eurasian edible fish species, the hardy big brother of the common carp was brought to North America by invading European settlers. And just to say that they successfully completed this migration would be a gross understatement. Found in rivers and lakes throughout the United States and much of Canada and Mexico, cyprinid fish can grow up to nearly 45 kilograms. At the same time, the fish is so smart that it is almost impossible to catch it with artificial bait. Moreover, Americans do not consider carp suitable for food. And he himself is a lover of easy money, and therefore he is looking for food at the bottom, rummaging in the mud and eating the caviar of other fish.

1. Pigeons

Brought to North America by European settlers in the 1600s, these well-known "flying rats" live in both cities and rural areas. Forming large urban flocks, they leave a huge amount of pigeon droppings on cars, street furniture and everything else. Sometimes large flocks pose a danger even to aircraft. Another particularly irritating feature of them is the habit of beating for themselves feeders designed to attract local songbirds.

The material was prepared by Natalia Zakalyk - according to the material

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In the modern era, either intentionally or accidentally, a great many species have been introduced into areas where they never existed.

The introduction of many species was due to the following factors.

European colonization . Arrival at new settlement sites in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and wanting to make the surroundings more familiar to the eye and provide themselves with traditional entertainment (in particular, hunting), Europeans brought hundreds of European species of birds and mammals there.

Horticulture and agriculture . A large number of species of ornamental plants, agricultural crops and pasture grasses are introduced and grown in territories that are new to them. Many of these species "broke free" and settled in local communities.

Overwhelming majority exotic species, that is, species that have found themselves outside their natural range due to human activity, do not take root in new places, with the exception of a certain number of species that are settled there and become invasive species, that is, those that increase in number due to the original species.

Reasons for the invasiveness of exotic species:

1.Competition with natives for a limiting resource.

2. Direct predation.

In the US, invasive exotic species pose a threat to 49% of endangered species; now there are more than 70 species of exotic fish, 80 species of exotic shellfish, 200 species of exotic plant species and 2,000 exotic insects.

The swamps of North America are dominated by exotic perennials: loosestrife from Europe and Japanese honeysuckle. Intentionally introduced insects, such as European honey bees(Apis mellifera)and bumblebees(Bombus spp.),and accidentally introduced Richter ants and African honey bees(A. mellifera adansonii or A. mellifera scutelld)created huge populations. These invasive species can have a devastating effect on the local insect fauna, resulting in the decline of many species in the area. In some areas of the southern United States, due to the invasion of exotic Richter ants, the diversity of insect species has decreased by 40%.

Invasive species in aquatic habitats

The influence of invasive species can be especially strong in lakes, rivers and inland seas.

Freshwater bodies of water are like islands in the ocean (just the other way around). Therefore, they are particularly vulnerable to the introduction of exotic species. In water bodies for the sake of commercial or sport fishing, species that are not inherent in them are often introduced. Many species of fish have been unintentionally introduced into inland seas as a result of canal construction and the transport of ballast water by ships. Often, exotic species are larger and more aggressive than the natural fish fauna, and as a result of competition and outright predation, they can gradually drive native fish species to extinction.

In North America, one of the most notable invasions was in the Great Lakes in 1988. . river mussel (Dreissena pofymorpha). This small striped animal from the Caspian Sea was brought from Europe by tankers. In two years, in some parts of Lake Erie, the number of zebra mussel reached 700 thousand individuals per 1 sq. km. km, destroyed many species of molluscs and fish.

The rabbits brought to Australia bred uncontrollably and brought native plants to extinction. Currently, efforts to control rabbits are focused on the importation into Australia of pathogens that selectively affect rabbits.