24.10.2019

Phytoinvasions: danger and ecological consequences. List of invasive species Invasive animal species

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1. Invasion

1.1 List of invasive species

1.2 Invasive species

2. Introduction

2.1 Nature of introduction

2.3 Accidental introduction

2.4 Ecological introduction

1. Invasion (ecology)

Invasion (from Latin invasio - invasion, attack) in ecology and biology - an invasion of any territory or ecosystem that is not characteristic of them species, which occurs, unlike the introduction, without the conscious participation of a person.

Alien species invasion is currently part of global natural change and can often cause significant loss of biodiversity and is characterized by economic importance ecosystems subject to such biological invasions. Sometimes such invasions can cause significant economic damage and pose a danger to human health.

Examples of invasive species are: Colorado potato beetle, chestnut miner moth, Nile perch, ragweed, Sosnowski's cow parsnip, etc.

To date, there are no universal ways to stop the invasion of aggressive species. The development of measures to prevent biological invasions, mitigate all their consequences and monitor them is the responsibility of the countries that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.

1.1 List of invasive species

The list of invasive species includes species of animals and plants accidentally introduced by humans into regions new to them, where they successfully take root, begin to multiply and capture new territories.

Invasive ("aggressive") species have a negative impact on the local fauna and flora, which is why they become pests and quarantine objects. There is some confusion as to whether "invasive" and "introduced" species are fully synonymous. The accidental introduction and damage to native ecosystems distinguishes invasive species from introduced species.

Animals

Arthropod: Chinese mitten crab. Shellfish: Chinese mitten crab. Insects: Harmonia axyridis, Colorado potato beetle, chestnut miner moth. Ants: Argentine ant, Argentine ant, Red fire ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum, Small fire ant. Mollusks: Crassostrea gigas, Crepidula fornicata, European zebra mussel Ensis directus, Ferrissia fragilis, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Melanoides tuberculatus, venous rapana. Chordates: Canadian geese in England. Birds: Nile goose, Sukhonos, or Chinese goose, Mountain goose, Canada goose, House crow, Monk parrot, American duck, Cramer's necklace parakeet. Mammals: Gray Rat, American Mink, Coypu Raccoon Dog, Muskrat, Gray Rat, Black Rat

Plants

Edible carpobrotus: Highest ailanthus, Shrub amorpha, Edible carpobrotus, Caulerpa racemosa, Caulerpa taxifolia, Crassula helmsii, Elodea canadensis, Fallopia japonica, Gledichia three-prickly, Mantegazzi hogweed, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, Impatiens glandu-lifera, Myriophyllum aquaticum, Rhododendron ponticum, Robinia pseudoacacia.

Animals

Insects: Tobacco whitefly, Fire ants, German wasp.

mammals

European rabbit, Single-humped camel, Domestic dog, Domestic goat, African donkey, Donkey, Domestic horse, Cat, House mouse, European rabbit, Small rat, Gray rat, Red fox, Koala on about. Kangaroo

In Russia, the agency that controls the import of invasive species is the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor).

1.2 Invasive species (botany)

Invasive species, or invasive species (English invasive species).

There is no unambiguous and correct definition. In Russian, the term "invasive species" is a morphological transfer from the English phrase invasive species.

In the Western school, a special discipline, defined as invasive plant ecology, deals with the study of invasive species; in Russia, these species are studied by florists as part of the adventitious floras of the regions and separately by specialists in other areas from the point of view of the biology and ecology of such species.

As a rule, the totality 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 take root in Various types cenoses.

“Invasive alien species are non-native organisms that cause or may cause damage to the environment, the economy or human health.

Conditions that allow specific types of flora to be assigned Central Russia to the category of 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 epe-cophyte or agriophyte at least in part of the territory. It is extremely rare, but it happens that colonophytes, which reproduce in large numbers in places of culture (for example, Sorbaria sorbifolia), should also be classified as invasive species;

*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 be a source of economic damage (but not necessarily).

1.3 List of invasive plants

According to the Black Book of Flora of Central Russia website. Alien plant species in the ecosystems of Central Russia.

Ash-leaved maple, white amaranth, upturned amaranth, Sosnovsky's cow parsnip, common calamus, ragweed wormwood, willow aster, leafy string, fragrant chamomile. Small-petaled Canadian, Cyclachena cocklebur, Small-flowered annual, Galinzoga small-flowered, Galinzoga four-beamed, Tuberous sunflower, Jerusalem artichoke, Glutinous ragwort, Canadian golden rod, or Canadian goldenrod, Giant golden rod, or giant goldenrod, Elbe cocklebur, Impatiens iron-bearing, Impatiens small-flowered, Caucasian comfrey, Cardaria vulgaris, French hornwort, Dense-flowered bedbug, Volga gulyavnik, Tatar quinoa, Echinocystis prickly, Goof narrow-leaved, Sea buckthorn buckthorn, Butterlak spurge, Multi-leaved lupine, Canadian elodea, Thin rush, Elsholzia ciliated, or Patrena, Pennsylvanian ash, Fireweed lexistemic , Fireweed falsely reddening, Evening primrose biennial, or Oslinnik biennial, Oxalis erect, Roofing bonfire, Rough-leaved fescue, Maned barley, Bluegrass squat, Beskilnitsa spaced, Reinutria Japanese, Reinutria Bohemian, Irga spiky, Irga alder-leaved, Hawthorn unipetist, Fieldfare mountain ash deciduous, white poplar

Other notable invasive plants in the area

Robinia false acacia, Gledichia three-thorned, Amorpha shrub, Ailantus highest.

List of the most dangerous invasive species:

introduced species

2. Introduction

Introduction (biological) (from lat. Introductio - “introduction”) - the deliberate 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 the English. Introduced species) - non-indigenous, unusual for a given territory, intentionally or accidentally brought to a new place as a result 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.

Corn is only in a broad sense an introduced species, since it does not grow wild outside its natural range.

For a number of reasons, the term introduced species is often applied to closely related 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 concept of "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, etc., widely distributed in the world, can be attributed to introduced plants. However, some sources add to this definition “... and reproduced in wild nature”, which leaves out of the definition all cultivated crops that are not able to reproduce without human intervention. For such plants, the term "cultivated" or "ornamental" species 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 damage is usually beyond calculus, and organisms continue to spread to areas where they never existed, often without regard to whether they may or may not cause harm.

2.1 Nature of introduction

Tiger ambystoma (Ambystoma tigrinum) owes its distribution in California to fisheries, in which it was used as bait. invasion acclimatization 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. Thus, in connection with the development of new territories, agricultural crops were imported, livestock and wild animals that can diversify the local fauna. Accidental introduction was a side, often undesirable, product of human activity - for example, the Colorado potato beetle, rats, cockroaches and synanthropic species of fruit flies spread widely. Further distribution of introduced species already in a new territory can occur both with the help of a person and independently.

2.2 Intentional introduction

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

The most common motivation for conscious introduction was the increase in economic income from local biocenoses. During the period of great geographical discoveries, Europeans transported cultivated plants and livestock with them. For example, carp (Cyprinus carpio) came to the American continent for the purpose of breeding and then spread in the wild. Ampullaria snails (Ampullariidae), as a product rich in protein, were introduced into South East Asia, and from there they got to the Hawaiian Islands, where they founded a whole industry Food Industry. In 1905 to Europe from North America for the sake of valuable fur, muskrats were transported - first they were released into the wild near Prague, and then they settled in the vast territory of Eurasia, even reaching China, Korea and Mongolia. In exactly the same way, arctic foxes appeared on many islands off the coast of Alaska.

Norway maple behaves quite aggressively on the American continent, displacing indigenous plant species.

Sometimes alien species of animals appear due to a passion for sport hunting and fishing - thus, the baited species of salamander tiger ambystoma (Ambystoma tigrinum) appeared in California, where it displaces the local endemic species California ambystoma (Ambystoma californiense). Sometimes ordinary 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 pirate goats on the Galapagos Islands, they eat vegetation, due to which local iguanas survive.

Among plants there are also a large number of deliberately introduced species, especially ornamental ones. For example, the European maple (Acer platanoides) in the form of green plantings in gardens and parks came to the American continent, and the ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo), on the contrary, is widely cultivated in Europe, including Russia. Norway maple is known to be an aggressive, invasive species that threatens native species. Ash-leaved maple in Europe is also classified as an aggressive weed species.

The lumber industry has contributed to the spread of the North American radiant pine (Pinus radiata), which is unusual for the southern hemisphere, in Australia.

Cornflower sunflower (Centaurea solstitialis), which has a long root, which allows it to compete with other plants in the extraction of water, threatens natural ecosystem Yosemite national park in USA.

2.3 Accidental introduction

The Colorado potato beetle gained a foothold in Europe during the First World War and has since begun its 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 the river zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), accidentally ended up in a new location along with transported water used as ballast.

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

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

Through botanical gardens and collectors of exotic plants, the North American lobed thorn fruit (Echinocystis lobata) entered Europe; 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, as in the vicinity settlements, and quite far from them and has a high activity for renewal and reproduction.

2.4 Ecological introduction

A special place in the deliberate migration of species is occupied by reintroduction, which consists in the return of species that previously lived in the area, but then disappeared due to human fault. Reintroduction is carried out by interstate and local environmental organizations. One example of such a migration is the reintroduction of the Davidan deer into the Dafeng Milu Reserve near Beijing. This deer was practically exterminated in China in the Middle Ages, and the last individuals remaining in the garden of the emperor died at the end of the 19th century during floods and civil unrest. Miraculously preserved at the courts of Europe, 16 deer marked the beginning of the restoration of the population, part of which was returned to the places where they once lived.

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. This happened to the Chinese alligator, which, due to the loss natural places habitat in the Yangtze River valley was on the verge of extinction. To create a species reserve, several alligators were relocated to the territory of the Rockefeller Wildlife Reserve in the US state of Louisiana.

2.5 Invasive (invasive) species

On the site Global Program for the study of invasive species, the following definition is given:

"Invasive alien species are non-native organisms that cause or may cause damage to the environment, economy or human health."

2.6 Invasive exotic diseases

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 smallpox virus to the American continent, along with the first conquistadors, in 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 such fungi as Endothia parasitica, which causes chestnut endothium cancer, and Ceratocystis ulmi, which causes elm disease.

In order to fulfill the phytosanitary principles of plant quarantine and protection, which are combined in International Convention on Plant Protection (IPPC) and specified in its International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures, each country has an official national organization on Plant Protection and Quarantine (NPPO).

In Russia, the organization corresponding to the status of the NPPO is the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor).

List of used literature

1. “Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say. Phylogeny, morphology, physiology, ecology, adaptation, natural enemies”. M., "Nauka", 2011. 375 p.

2. Elton C. Ecology of invasions of animals and plants = The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. London, 2012 / Charles Elton / Per. from English. ed. N. P. Naumova. -- M.: Publishing house of foreign literature, 2012.

3. Dgebuadze Yu. Yu. Problems of invasions of alien organisms // Ecological safety and invasions of alien organisms: Collection of round table materials within the framework of the All-Russian Conference on Ecological Security of Russia (June 4-5, 2002). -- M.: MSOP, IPEE RAN, 2002.

4. Vinogradova Yu. K. Code of management of the behavior of invasive alien species in botanical gardens // Botanical gardens in the modern world: theoretical and applied research: Proceedings of the All-Russian scientific conference/ Demidov A.S .. - M .: Association of Scientific Publications KMK, 2011.

5.Introduction and methods of culture of flower ornamental plants. -- M.: Nauka, 2000. -- 168 p.

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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.

There is one interesting story. She talks about the fact that once the Earth was part of paradise, and was considered its most beautiful corner. But this was only until the moment when people appeared on it. There were more and more of them, and they gradually occupied best places, mercilessly exploited them, and then left there, leaving behind mountains of garbage and a desecrated space that never again looked like paradise.

All attempts to call to the mind or to the soul ended in failure, and, probably, that is why the Lord, trying to save the Earth from the filth created by the ungrateful human race, arranged a worldwide flood. But, alas, this lesson did not teach people anything. And so far, wherever there are people, “sick” places, contaminated with waste, instantly appear.

In addition to waste, there is another problem - the appearance of invasive animals, plants and viruses. And this is also the fault of man. This process is always started by people, and from the best of intentions, with which, as you know, the road to hell is paved. It is this hell that becomes the place where a person of a near mind begins his economic activity. The most famous case is rabbits, once brought by colonists to Australia. In 1859, farmer Thomas Austin released only 24 rabbits into the wild. For what? From savings, of course. I decided that when the rabbits were free, they would feed themselves, and there would be no need to clean their cages.

Everyone knows the result: by the end of the 19th century, there was no grass and many shrubs left on the territory “mastered” by rabbits. As a result, hundreds of plant species and many animals died out and disappeared forever. But millions of rabbits jumped everywhere, eating up the remnants of vegetation and continuing to multiply rapidly. Farmers grabbed their heads and weapons, but this could not radically change the situation. Catastrophe! I had to shoot them, poison them - destroy them by all available means in order to somehow regulate their numbers.

And there are hundreds of thousands of such examples. The entire south of the United States is overgrown and continues to overgrow with one of the varieties of vines - kudzu. The leaves of the pueraria lobata resemble wild grapes and are very adorn the landscape design. And for this reason, they began to plant it in city parks and squares, decorate them with gazebos and arches in personal plots. And no one, not a single person bothered to read at least an article in a biology textbook about the features of this plant that reproduce incredibly quickly.

But in vain! Kudzu is an excellent opportunist and knows how to choose a support for himself. A tree, a pole, a house, a barn, a bridge or a fence - everything suits him. Gently and imperceptibly, the kudzu embraces the tree and begins to wrap coil after coil around its trunk. Imperceptibly tenderness disappears, and embraces become deadly. The tree dies, and the gentle killer, having climbed to a height of 30 meters, - and this is just in a year! - begins to look for a new victim.

The lack of high support does not bother kudzu at all. The plant simply crawls along the ground, leaving not a single square meter of empty space behind it. And this is only one individual, but there are hundreds of thousands of them! A year later, people simply did not recognize their gardens, kitchen gardens and houses. It is useless to cut down - the roots are very tenacious and grow again. Tried to burn - the same result. This is how the south of the United States was captured by an ordinary liana, which did not spare not only bushes, grass, destroyed all the trees, swallowed up individual ranches first, and then small towns, literally squeezed out all the farmers from these places.

Why is the USA there, and the same thing is happening next to us! There is a variety of starlings - lanes. In the people they are usually called Afghan starlings. They belong to migratory birds, but once they stayed for the winter in the cities of Uzbekistan, they decided not to fly away. Why work, flap your wings, get tired and generally strain? IN big city, and small too, there is a lot of food, there is enough heat in the country, and there is a minimum of natural enemies. Perfect place!

As a result, sparrows disappeared in Tashkent, because mynas are strong birds, and a sparrow cannot cope with them. Now the sparrow, an ordinary brown bird, flies only in the fields and villages, even in the suburbs it is a rarity. His way to the big cities is barred - the lanes will be pecked to death. They act cruelly and harmoniously, for a start they destroy nests, throw away eggs, and they do not spare the chicks either. Then flocks attack everyone who dares to fly into "their" territory. Recalcitrant daredevils, if any, are killed, and the rest surrender and retreat, saving their lives.

Pigeons and common turtledoves also prefer not to mess with lanes. The invaders behave impudently with them and are not shy in their methods. And with the gray crows, the lanes keep neutrality: you should not mess with them - they are very smart, strong and also know how to act collectively. So noisy flocks of impudent minnows and crows fly around the city, and in order to see the rest of the birds, you need to go away from the city.

In the 90s, rapana was brought to the Black Sea from the Far East. As they say, they were not going to release them into the water. The actions were committed spontaneously and unintentionally. And today there are no more Black Sea mussels and oysters in the Black Sea. Again nonsense? I don’t want to think that these were deliberate actions aimed at destruction, although this fact is no longer important for the deceased mussels.

One more fact. At the end of the 20th century, it was decided to specially grow cow parsnip - it is supposedly great for livestock feed. They reasoned like this. There are no worries with him - the weed does not require either watering or care, it grows, as they say, on its own. There are many vitamins in it, and silage, if hogweed is added to it, becomes much more nutritious. Conclusion: we sow weed wherever possible, up to the roadsides. Then we mow, store in silos. And it will cost a penny, and almost for nothing we will get excellent fodder for livestock for the winter.

The new vitamin supplement to the silage immediately showed its vile character. To begin with, it expanded throughout the territory, displacing almost all the natives. Then people and animals began to suffer from hogweed burns. Again, good intentions have turned into a problem for which no solution has yet been found. We drive just a few kilometers from Moscow and see fields completely overgrown with this innocent-looking and very pretty plant. And God forbid you pick hogweed to decorate a bouquet of wild flowers with it! The burn is stronger than from nettles, and it heals for two weeks, and sometimes longer.

Rats better than all animals adapt not only to new living conditions, but in general to any. They are able to live among bare stones and find food for themselves there. Scientists have calculated that more than 90% of the islands of the oceans are inhabited only by rats. They once hit them from ships that moored for a while or sunk off the coast. Just nothing - three or five individuals on one island, but this is enough so that very soon, apart from them, no one lived on the territory occupied by rats. Devouring everything that can be found, multiplying at an unprecedented rate, in a few years the rats turn from guests into sole owners. And this happens wherever at least a couple of rats get.

During the Cultural Revolution in China, they declared war on sparrows. Some smart people have calculated the damage caused by flocks of birds to the rice crop. It turned out that as much as 4.7%! They shot this bird mercilessly, reported with satisfaction about the millions of sparrows killed and took pictures against the backdrop of trucks filled to the brim with the corpses of “criminal thieves”. The very next year, the rice fields were occupied by pests of all stripes, and rice losses amounted to 85%. I had to buy sparrows in neighboring countries, import them to China and create all the conditions for them to live well in new places. From the outside it looks like ordinary human stupidity. And it can be qualified as a deliberate infliction of enormous damage to the country and people.

There is a list of invasive species that pose a serious danger to the environment. It contains 2 viruses, one species of protozoa, 38 plants, 57 animals, and three species of chromists and fungi each. In this list you can find seemingly innocent creatures. They do not tolerate anyone on their territory and are aggressive towards their neighbors ordinary carp and whiteflies, aphids and red deer, wild rabbits and keep quiet. All familiar faces! But this is at first glance, but if you look closely, it becomes clear that their ideal ability to survive is a terrible evil for the environment.

The appearance of invasive animals in any region is a real biological terrorism, a real threat to the biological diversity of nature. It is difficult to fight this phenomenon, sometimes it is already too late. It is much easier to avoid such distortions. But people are people, and sometimes it is simply impossible to break through to their consciousness.

The most dangerous animals that can instantly adapt to new living conditions. They have either already destroyed or are now engaged in the destruction of other animals. Some species of animals are engaged in the creation of supercolonies on a planetary scale, while others destroy all zooplankton and animals at an incredible rate.

Source: www.hormigas.org

Argentine ants originally lived only in South America, but now their colonies exist in Southern Europe, the USA, and also in Asia. In Europe, the largest colony of Argentine ants stretches for 6 thousand km, stretching along the entire Mediterranean coast of Spain, France, Monaco and Italy. The ant colony in the USA (California) has already grown to 900 km. The third colony of Argentine ants is located on the west coast of Japan. All three Argentine ant colonies were found to be tolerant of each other, ie. form a huge supercolony on a planetary scale.

The homeland of the giant Achatina is the coastal part East Africa. During the Second World War, this mollusk spread throughout Oceania, countries Caribbean, America. The expansion of the range of Achatina was stopped due to the introduced quarantine. The incipient invasion of the snail in the United States was prevented. Achatina giant is dangerous view since Achatina are hermaphrodites, that is, each individual has male and female genital organs. At a low population density, self-fertilization is possible. The snail has learned to master all kinds of biotopes: coastal lowlands, river valleys, forests, shrubs, as well as fields and arable lands. Achatina giant is recognized as an extremely dangerous agricultural pest.

Source: upload.wikimedia.org

The American signal crayfish originally lived in North America. In the 20th century, it spread in Europe, because it is not only resistant to crayfish plague, but is itself its distributor. Endemics are not able to compete with the American signal cancer. Currently found in Europe (on the territory of 25 countries), as well as in Russia.

Source: upload.wikimedia.org

Deer included in the list of the most dangerous invasive species according to International Union nature conservation. The red deer is most dangerous in South America, where the rare South Andean deer competes with it for food. In Argentina, red deer have spread to many national parks. In some regions, the red deer does not allow the populations of local plant species, which are especially actively used for food, to recover, thus affecting plant diversity.

Source: upload.wikimedia.org

The venous rapana is a predator that could initially be found only in the Peter the Great Bay, as well as off the coast of Japan, but in 1947 the rapana was accidentally brought into the Black Sea. Due to the absence of natural enemies in the sea, the mollusk population instantly grew and caused great damage to the fauna of the Black Sea. In the future, due to intensive maritime transport, the area of \u200b\u200bthe rapana increased: now it inhabited the entire Mediterranean Sea, as well as the North Sea. There is evidence that the rapana has already entered the waters of South America.

Source: upload.wikimedia.org

India is considered the birthplace of the tobacco whitefly. Whiteflies are dangerous because their larvae suck plant juices and transmit phytopathogenic viruses. Especially dangerous insect for melons, vegetable and industrial crops. Berry, citrus and forest tree plantations are also affected. Whiteflies have settled on all continents (except Antarctica).

Source: c1.staticflickr.com

Yellow crazy ants originally lived only in West Africa. Now colonies of these ants are found in the Caribbean, indian ocean and Oceania. Destroyed a unique ecosystem on Christmas Island. Yellow crazy ants are capable of creating supercolonies (i.e. they do not compete with each other). Use human transport to capture new territories. Destroy other insects, arachnids, mollusks. Their diet also includes grains and seeds.

Terminology

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 concept of "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, etc., widely distributed in the world, can be attributed to introduced plants. However, some sources add "... and reproduced in the wild" to the above definition, 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" species is used.

There is some confusion as to whether the concepts of "invasive" (from the English. invasive) and "introduced" species. 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 damage is usually beyond calculus, and organisms continue to spread to areas where they never existed, often without regard to whether they may or may not cause harm.

The nature of the 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. Accidental introduction was a side, often undesirable, product of human activity - for example, 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. 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. 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.

The most common motivation for conscious introduction was the increase in economic income from local biocenoses. During the period of great geographical discoveries, Europeans transported cultivated plants and livestock with them. For example, carp came to the American continent for the purpose of breeding and then spread in the wild ( Cyprinus carpio). Snail snails ( Ampullariidae), as a product rich in protein, were brought to Southeast Asia, and from there they got to the Hawaiian Islands, where they founded a whole branch of the food industry. In the year, muskrats were transported to Europe from North America for the sake of valuable fur - first they were released into the wild near Prague, and then they settled in the vast territory of Eurasia, even reaching China, Korea and Mongolia. In exactly the same way, arctic foxes appeared on many islands off the coast of Alaska.

Sometimes alien species of animals appear due to the passion for sport hunting and fishing - thus the type of salamander tiger ambistoma used for bait ( Ambystoma tigrinum) appeared in California, where it displaces the local endemic species California ambistioma ( 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. Goats that have settled since the time of pirates in the Galapagos Islands eat vegetation, due to which local iguanas survive.

Among plants there are also a large number of deliberately introduced species, especially ornamental ones. For example, the European Norway maple ( Acer platanoides) in the form of green spaces in gardens and parks came to the American continent, and ash-leaved maple ( Acer negundo), on the contrary, is widely cultivated in Europe, including Russia. At the same time, Norway maple is known as an aggressive, invasive species that threatens native species.

The lumber industry contributed to the spread in Australia of the North American radiant pine, unusual for the southern hemisphere ( Pinus radiata).

Cornflower sunny ( Centaurea solstitialis), which has a long root that allows it to compete with other plants for water, threatens the natural ecosystem of Yosemite National Park in the United States.

accidental introduction

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 ( Rattus exulans)) 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 the river mussel mussel ( Dreissena polymorpha) accidentally ended up in a new location along with transported water used as ballast. About 200 alien organisms have settled in the San Francisco Bay, thus making it the most intruded estuary in the world. In the first half of the century, along with the transported potatoes, first came to France, and the Colorado potato beetle also gained a foothold throughout Europe, causing considerable harm to agriculture.

Ecological introduction

A special place in the intentional migration of species is occupied by reintroduction, which consists in the return of species that previously lived in the area, but then disappeared through the fault of man. Reintroduction is carried out by interstate environmental organizations. One of the most famous examples Such a resettlement can be called the reintroduction of the David deer into the territory of the Dafin Milu Reserve (Eng. Dafeng Milu Reserve) near Beijing. This deer was practically exterminated in China in the Middle Ages, and the last individuals remaining in the garden of the emperor died at the end of the 19th century during floods and popular unrest. Miraculously preserved at the courts of Europe, 16 deer marked the beginning of the restoration of the population, part of which was returned to the places where they once lived.

In addition, sometimes due to a particularly alarming situation that threatens the existence of a species, some animals are relocated to similar climatic conditions in order to preserve it. This happened to the 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 Wildlife in the US state of Louisiana. .

Invasive exotic diseases

Among the introduced species, there are not only animals and plants, but also various viral infections. The most widely known is the spread of the smallpox virus to the American continent, along with the first conquistadors in 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 that causes endotium cancer

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Phytoinvasions: danger and ecological consequences. List of invasive species Invasive animal species

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