NOTE: i am in no way saying carrying invasive species around isn’t bad/harmful! it very much is a big issue. i am just a bit lost on how humans (being animals) are doing “incorrect” unnatural things since we are natural(compared to other living things who don’t necessarily harm their environment)
okay, so i don’t really understand the whole invasive species thing. when humans carry plants/animals to different regions and they start rapidly growing there, why do we need to get rid of them? humans are animals as well (great apes), and a way that seeds/eggs spread is by grabbing onto other animals as they travel. so why is it different when people do it? i’m just confused
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In nature, animals (not humans) have a limited range they can spread seeds to n their droppings and from fur. It generally will only spread a species within an area it is “ok” to exist as their are natural predators or other factors such as weather that will keep it in check.
Humans, on the other hand, have none of these limitations. A tropical plant can be brought to Alaska and a wild snake from Asia to Florida.
I will use the pythons as an example. Humans brought pythons to the US for “pets”. Once they were too big or there were reasons to not ditch them, irresponsible humans released them into the wild. The Florida Everglades is a great match to their habitat- but there are several things missing. There are no apex predators to the snakes. The only animals big enough and capable enough to eat them are humans, some gators, and the near extinct panthers. So the snakes reproduce at breakneck speed and eat everything that fits in their gullet. Small rodents, raccoons (nearly wiped out now), birds, deer, and even the apex predators once though able to keep the pythons in check.
Because they have no predators able to control the population, they are eating the available supply of food faster than it can reproduce. This steals food from other animals which also need to eat. So it is a twofold strain. No predators means more snakes, and more snakes means less food for every animal.
With plants, it works in the same way, except with plants, it is a “who can grow faster and choke out a native plant”. Dirt and square feet are food sources that are competed for. Wild Mustard is a horrid invasive species in my area. It is more resilient, faster growing, and it’s roots choke out those of other native plants. There are no animals (besides some livestock) that eat it naturally and no weed killer to selectively kill only wild mustard. The main way of killing it is by ripping it out manually, one plant at a time.
Once the balance of the food chain is disrupted, every living thing in it is affected.
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