Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

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bostonimproper
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Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:45 am

Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

Post by bostonimproper »

I have an ecology question and don’t really know how to find the answer (AI-overkill Google is almost impossible to search with nowadays).

The question is this: How do ecologists differentiate between a invasive versus benign non-native species? I’m thinking particularly in the case of “range-shifting” or “climate-tracking” species that are moving north as climate changes.

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mountainFrugal
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Re: Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

Post by mountainFrugal »

Invasive species are generally defined as causing significant displacement of native species either through direct competition or indirectly through significant habitat change. There is a general rule of thumb that 10% of introduced species will be able to survive in an ecosystem and 10% of those (1% of total introduced species) will become a problem for the ecosystem or for agriculture and be considered "invasive". Examples include cheatgrass (invasive grass in the intermountain west that increases fires and outcompetes slower growing natives), cane toads and rabbits (Australia), Kudzu vine in the Southeastern US. A species can be non-native in one part of a region and be benign, but shift the ecosystem type a bit in a different part of that region, and it could become invasive. Many invasive species are R selected (versus K selected) so they have relatively short generation times, do not usually invest much in each offspring, and go for the high offspring numbers game. Shorter generation times lead to faster potential evolution if the population is selected drastically enough (see herbicide resistant weeds in agriculture as an example). Diverse ecosystems are much more resilient to invasion because all of the the available niches are filled (not impossible, just less likely). It is an active research area as to how climate shifts might make "naturalized" species for a given habitat tip towards becoming invasive. So it might not just be invasive species shifting with climate from your original question, but could also be naturalized species that can become more invasive for a given ecosystem with climate shifts.

cheatgrass: https://rockies.audubon.org/sagebrush/cheatgrass-fire
kudzu: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/w ... e-species/
toads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm3hd1pxHME (this is a hilarious video...cut as equal time pro toad/anti-toad propaganda... but cane toads are a terrible invasive species that were purposefully introduced!)

7Wannabe5
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Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:03 am

Re: Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Jumping Earthworms are another “fun” example. Common earthworms are also invasive, but not so bad.

Some knowledgeable humans think that at this juncture we should tolerate/encourage anything that processes CO2. Seems too linear to me.

I am thinking about ordering some pink dandelion seeds at 10 cents each.

enigmaT120
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Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:14 pm
Location: Falls City, OR

Re: Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

Post by enigmaT120 »

I've never seen pink dandelions.

7Wannabe5
Posts: 9369
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:03 am

Re: Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds


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Married2aSwabian
Posts: 265
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 7:45 pm

Re: Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

Post by Married2aSwabian »

That’s too cool! I’ll have to show DW. ;)

Small world - Baker Creek is company we ordered a ton of heirloom seeds from in early 2000s for our big veggie garden. I think they’d just moved from Missouri to Petaluma, CA at the time.

She is also constantly on the lookout for invasives in our yard (ie. Garlic mustard, etc.).

DW is saying that invasive species adapt very quickly and can take over (like garlic mustard in MI or kudzu vine in GA). A non-native also comes from another region, but isn’t so adaptive / more climate specific (an orange tree in MI is dead after one season).

enigmaT120
Posts: 1240
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:14 pm
Location: Falls City, OR

Re: Any ecologists/conservationists on here?

Post by enigmaT120 »

I'll go with MountainFrugal's answer. Around here it's the non native blackberries (2 species, both delicious) and Scotch Broom, not so delicious though I used to eat the seeds sometimes when I was a kid. Like uncooked lentils. And when I look around at our ash trees, I can just about kiss them goodbye because the emerald ash burrower is headed this way from the east.

I love the original question.

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