GLIN==> Our borders being invaded by unwanted species

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20101220/SPORTS/12200315/1006/SPORTS/Our-borders-being-invaded-by-unwanted-species

Our borders being invaded by unwanted species
Dec 20, 2010

Written by
DICK MARTIN
For The Advocate
*         Filed Under
*         Sports<http://www.newarkadvocate.com/section/SPORTS>
Many people are upset about illegal immigrants crossing our borders, but few know or are troubled by invasive plants and animals that also cross our borders and find a home here, usually to the detriment of native wildlife species. Invasive species come from other countries, perhaps brought in by ships' ballast tanks or by humans as pets or for other reasons.
Because they're not native, they have few or no natural enemies and can spread with impunity, upsetting the ecology of the terrain or water they inhabit and often causing local creatures to become extinct or endangered.
A classic case in point is zebra mussels brought in accidentally from Europe. They're thriving in the Great Lakes and are moving inland to become residents of smaller lakes and rivers. The mollusks cause serious damage in several ways, not least by clogging up intake pipes for everything from nuclear power plants to water purification facilities.
Then there are round gobies, which reproduce rapidly and probably have caused the nosedive in populations of Lake Erie smallmouths when they gobble eggs of bass nests during spawning season.
Asian carp are a problem that scares biologists and fishermen alike. Again, they came in via human agency living in ponds in the south, where they were grown for food or other reasons. Some ponds flooded, the fish escaped into rivers like the Mississippi, spread like wildfire and are being kept from the Great Lakes only by electric barriers in rivers near Chicago. Several carp already have been caught above the barriers, and if they spread into lakes Michigan, Erie and elsewhere, will grow to huge sizes and morph into eating machines that will hurt food supplies of native game fish. They like to leap into the air when motorized boats come by, and one already has knocked a woman off her boat and caused her to drown.
Then there are wild pigs, which are increasing in Ohio. These escaped from game farms and are a nuisance and a hazard in parts of southern Ohio. They decimate crops, eat anything that moves, including rare snakes and frogs and have few natural enemies other than man. What Ohio predator would want to take on a 500-pound boar with a bad attitude?
Elsewhere, things are just as bad. In Florida, several kinds of pythons and boa constrictors have been turned loose by pet owners, and are thriving there. Now, they're everywhere, have few natural enemies, reach lengths of 16 feet and better and are not only making inroads on native wildlife from muskrats to nutria and small alligators, but don't turn down a meal of Rover or Fifi if one comes close.
Plants? They're as bad or worse. Purple loosestrife is taking over Lake Erie marshes and backwaters, and outdoorsmen driving along Sandusky Bay in spring can see acres of purple flowers, which biologists are calling the "purple plague." Hydrilla, which came from the aquaria of fish lovers, forms thick mats that choke out fish habitat and can stop a motor boat in its tracks. Water hyacinths can do the same.
But the worst plague to come from elsewhere (Brazil) is Giant Salvinia, a small floating duckweed-like plant that has been sold to aquarium owners for decades. It's taking over Texas and Louisiana, and grows by fragmentation, so each time a boat pushes through a mat of it and breaks off pieces, the pieces become new plants. Salvinia plants can double the area they can cover in as little as five days, and a single plant has been known to cover 40 square miles of water in three months.
There's not much we can do about what's already here, but if our government doesn't wake up and produce some strict laws with heavy fines, the problem is only going to get worse. There are lots more plants and animals out there just waiting to enjoy life in the U.S. We can't let that happen.


Kristy Meyer, M.S.
Director of Agricultural & Clean Water Programs
Ohio Environmental Council
1207 Grandview Ave., Ste. 201
Columbus, OH 43212
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Kristy at theOEC.org
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