Plagues and Swarms Invasive Species Ecology

1. Plagues and Swarms Invasive Species Ecology

2. Invasive Species • Invasive species are defined as non-native exotic organisms whose introduction to new areas may result in harmful effects on human and environmental health and economic costs • Invasive species are one of the most important threats to biodiversity • Approximately 50,000 invasive species in the USA • Nearly 5,000 plant species • 10,000 person hours in Smoky Mountain National Park (http://www.invasive.org/eastern/) Emerald Ash Borer Water Hyacinth Emerald Ash Borer Zebra Mussel European Starling

3. - How are species able to dominate the habitats they invade?- What impacts do invasive species have on species diversity and ecosystem processes? - What determines the invasibility of habitats? Invasion Ecology: General Questions

4. Invasive species impacts Based on a 2005 Lexington, Kentucky, street tree survey- it is estimated that there are more than 10,000 ash trees in the Urban Service Area (LFUCG 2007). The ash component of Louisville Kentucky's tree population is 17%. buprestid http://www.emeraldashborer.info/

5. Asian carp

6. Invasive species impacts (critters) European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus coniculus) • Invasive in Australia • Causes damage to the environment and agricultural operations • Difficult to control because native predators now rely on the feral rabbit as a food resource http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/ferals/index.html

7. Invasive species impacts (critters) Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) • Native in Australia and Indonesia • Invasive in Hawai’i • Preys on native lizards and birds • Causes major power outages because it climbs on electrical wires http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/bts.shtml

8. Invasive species impacts (critters) Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) • Native in Europe and Asia http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives/fact/zebra.htm

9. Invasive species impacts (critters) Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) • Native in Europe and Asia

10. Invasive species impacts (critters) Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) • Native in Europe and Asia

11. Invasive species impacts (critters) Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) • Native in Europe and Asia • Extremly successful in filter feeding • Decrease food available for other aquatic organisms • Makes the water clear • Increase in aquatic plant production and blue-green algae • Clogs drainage pipes • Approx. $5 billion in damages to the Great Lakes http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives/fact/zebra.htm

12. Invasive species impacts (critters) Rusty Crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/ais/rustycrayfish_invader

13. Invasive species impacts (plants) Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) • Native to China • Allelochemical properties and a distinct small • Invasive throughout the USA • Oak-hickory and Maple-birch forests • Early successional species http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/ailalt/all.html#SuccessionalStatus

14. Invasive species impacts (critters) Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) • Native to China and surrounding Asian region • Introduced to the USA in 1896 (Luken, J. O. and J. W. Thieret 1995) Flower of L. maackii Photos: Ryan W. McEwan Fruit of L. maackii

15. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=loma6

16. Invasive species impacts (critters) Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) • Native to China and surrounding Asian region • Introduced to the USA in 1896 (Luken, J. O. and J. W. Thieret 1995) • Suite of invasive characteristics (Gorchov and Trisel 2003; Hutchinson and Vankat 1997; McEwan et al. 2009) • Successful in disturbed and edge habitats Black Oak Park in summer

17. Invasive species impacts (critters) Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) • Native to China and surrounding Asian region • Introduced to the USA in 1896 (Luken, J. O. and J. W. Thieret 1995) • Suite of invasive characteristics (Gorchov and Trisel 2003; Hutchinson and Vankat 1997; McEwan et al. 2009) • Successful in disturbed and edge habitats • Has a long growing season • Allelopathic capabilities • Herbs (Dorning and Cipollini 2006; Cipollini et al. 2008) • Insects (Cipollini et al. 2008; McEwan et al. 2009)

18. Invasive species impacts (insects) Asian Longhorned Beetle (Anophlophora glabripennis) • Native to China, Japan, and Korea • Invasive in NY, NJ, and PA • Larva eat away at woody tissue of many types of hardwood trees • Estimated costs of approx. $3.5 billion USD/year http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Anoplophora%20glabripennis.html

19. Invasive species impacts (insects) Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) • Native to eastern Russia, China, Japan, and Korea • Specialist invasive • Invasive throughout the northern parts of the Midwest and East coast of the USA and Canada • Larva eat at the woody tissue of Ash trees http://www.emeraldashborer.info/

20. Invasive species impacts (fungi) At the end of the 1800s: - American chestnut was found throughout much of the Eastern Deciduous Forest. • Chestnut was among the largest of eastern trees. • Pure stands were common • (> 80 % Basal Area in some stands) Range of American chestnut From: Paillet and Rutter (1989)

21. Photos from The Canadian Chestnut Council: - In 1904, chestnuts in the New York area began exhibiting a previously unknown canker. - This disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica, spread throughout the native range of the American chestnut. - By 1960, chestnut had been rendered functionally extinct as a canopy tree throughout its native range.