Habitat Fragmentation&

Invasive Species

11stst 9 Weeks 9 Weeks Science EnrichmentScience Enrichment

What are Invasive Species?• Invasive alien species are organisms that are

introduced to a given area outside their original range and cause harm in their new home. Because they have no natural enemies to limit their reproduction, they usually spread rampantly. Invasive alien species are recognized as one of the leading threats to biodiversity and impose enormous costs to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and other human enterprises, as well as to human health.

Invasive Species

• Invasive species typically have a competitive advantage over native plants– No natural predator or grazer in new habitat– Noxious or produce allelopathic chemicals

that natives have not evolved a defense against

– High reproductive rate, good in almost any environment

How Do We Know What’s Invasive?

Controlling InvasiveSpecies

Biodiversity

• Bio means “life”

• Diverse means “different types”.

5 Major Threats to Biodiversity

• H-Habitat Destruction/Degradation

• I-Invasive Species

• P-Pollution

• P-Population (Human) Growth

• O-Overharvesting/Overfishing

What are the results of habitat fragmentation?

• Less habitat for species– Species area curve

• Restricted migration of species– Restricted gene flow, inbreeding within

patches– Increased diseases or accidental

death

• More edge habitat– Microclimate differs at the edge

Conservation Biology and Management

What’s It Like Living on the Edge?EDGE Interior

UP/Down? Up/Down?

Sunlight

Canopy

Wind

Soil Temp.

Air Temperature

Human Disturbance

Management Issue

Example: A school would like to put a path through a wooded area, which design would have the least impact on wildlife that use the woods?

Top 14 KY Invasive Species1. Bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)2. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)3. Wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei)4. Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima)5. Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)6. Kudzu (Peuraria lobata)7. Musk-thistle (Carduus nutans)8. Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)9. Sudden oak death (Phytophthora ramorum)10. Hemlock wooly adelgid (Adelges tsugae)11. Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepnse)12. Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.)13. Fire ant (Solenopsis invicta)14. Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis)

Bush Honeysuckle

• This is very abundant in the urban/suburban environment.

• Woody, hollow stems, have an overall fountain appearance.

• Opposite leaves, fragrant flowers, red berries.

• May be mistaken for the Spice Bush or Burning Bush

Japanese Honeysuckle

• Vine with a cord-like stem

• Opposite leaves• Fragrant flowers in

Spring• May be confused with

Vinca or Winter creeper (next slide)

Wintercreeper, Euonymous

• Ground Cover• Dark green, almost

waxy-like opposite leaves

• Can climb• Green through winter

Tree-of-Heaven, Ailanthus

• Compound leaf• Opposite leaflets• Male leaves smell like

old peanut butter• Have glands along

leaf margin • Very similar to • Walnut trees

Multiflora Rose• Usually a white rose• Thorns on a round stem• Shrub, blooms early

summer• Similar to blackberries

(stem with edges, and smaller thorns)

Poison Hemlock• White umbel flower• Smooth stem with

purple blotches• Carrot-like, frilly leaf• May be confused with

Wild Carrot, Wild Parsnip

Garlic Mustard• Small white flowers• Young plants (with

cotyledons only) look different from the adult plants

• Spring flowers in late April through May

• Toothed leaves with purplish stems in summer

• Seed pods in early summer

Musk-Thistle

• Purple flowers in early summer, fuzzy seeds in late summer

• Hairy, toothed leaves with needle-like points

Johnson Grass

• Panic grass• Reddish, purple

inflorescence• Blooms in late

June/July• Distinctive stripe/ridge

on blade• Looks similar to corn

Kudzu

• Vine with a heart/mitten-shaped leaf

• Dieback can be evident through winter in a large patch

• Very noticeable in summer

Queen Anne’s Lace

Seeds used as a contraceptive in Europe

Dandelion

Very common

Redroot Pigweed

• Very common, looks like a young green bean.

Small Hop Clover

• VERY common, not the good clover grass used for square and round hay bales.

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