1. INVASIVE SPECIES

2. D EFINITIONS  NATIVE SPECIES Plants, animals, and other living things that have always lived in a certain area

3. D EFINITIONS  INVASIVE SPECIES Plants, animals, and other living things that have been introduced to an area where they don’t belong  Invasive species cause damage to the environment

4. HOW DO INVASIVE SPECIES GET HERE ?  Introduction by early European settlers for food, medicine, or something to remind them of “home”  Release of ballast water from ships (e.g. spiny waterflea)  Escape from fish farms (e.g. Atlantic Salmon in the Pacific)  Use of live bait when fishing (e.g. round goby)  Release or escape from aquarium or water gardens (e.g. fanwort)  Boating and water sports (e.g. zebra mussels)  Internet and mail ordering

5. W HY ARE INVASIVE SPECIES A PROBLEM ?  Compete with native species for food, shelter and space  Can “take over” and crowd out native species  Can change the way native species use the environment  Don’t have natural predators in new area  Can interfere with human activities  Can interfere with farmers’ crops  Cost a lot of $$ to remove

6. C HARACTERISTICS OF INVASIVE SPECIES  Able to live in a wide range of conditions  Grow quickly  Have lots of young/produce lots of seeds  Able to move away and live in new areas  Broad diet (eat many different things)  Able to adapt to changing conditions  May eat/grow/breed at different times than native species

7. C OMMON REED ( Phragmites australis )  Native to Europe  Brought to North America in ballast material of ships in 1800’s  Has spread across entire continent

8. D AMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES  Crowds out native plants

9. D AMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES  Crowding out native plants can change the ecosystem:  the kinds of plants that grow  the animals that live in and use the area

10. D AMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES  Changes the flow of water through the ecosystem  Changes the way nutrients move through the system  Increase the chance of fire

11. D AMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES On Wasaga Beach:  Block nice views of the shoreline/water  Make it hard for people to swim and fish  Keep people from using the beach  Threaten Piping Plover nesting areas

12. D AMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES

13. H OW DO WE CONTROL INVASIVE SPECIES ?  PLANTS: - Pesticides - Cutting/mowing, pulling, burning - Insects  ANIMALS: - Trapping - Poison - Barriers

14. W HAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP  DON’T MOVE PLANTS OR ANIMALS!!!  Be a responsible boater/fisher  Follow warning/information signs  Buy native plants for your garden  Get involved in your community  Learn more about invasive species!

15. S EA L AMPREY  http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/fish/s ea-lamprey/ http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/fish/s ea-lamprey/

16. Z EBRA M USSEL  http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/invert ebrates/zebra-and-quagga-mussels/ http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/invert ebrates/zebra-and-quagga-mussels/

17. R OUND G OBY  http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/fish/r ound-goby/ http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/fish/r ound-goby/

18. G IANT H OGWEED  http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/plants -terrestrial/giant-hogweed/ http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/plants -terrestrial/giant-hogweed/