Exotic Species




BIO226 : Predation/Competition : Competition : Exotic Species

Exotic Species

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Exotic species are native in some part of the world, but have invaded another. Some examples are: starlings, English sparrows, Gypsy moth tamarisk, and the Norway rat in the United States, gray squirrel in England and South Africa, Bradybaena in Japan, the rabbit and prickly pear in Australia. In their new habitat, exotic species sometimes cause drastic changes in the local ecological community. Sometimes exotics outcompete native species and take over. When native species are commercially valuable, there is an added dimension to the ecological problem.

1. Pick a species which is an "escaped" exotic and is (thought to be) at a competitive advantage relative to native species in the area it has invaded. Do not pick a species on which you have reported previously. List the species in the assignment database. (The assignment database replaces the Newsgroup.) Make sure your species is not already listed in the assignment database.

2. Describe the exotic species: where it is native; how it "escaped"; where it is an exotic. What source(s) of information did you use?

3. What characteristics make the exotic species a good competitor in its new habitat? What source(s) of information did you use?

4. What species has the exotic threatened with displacement? What source(s) of information did you use?

5. What ecological characteristics, relative to the invader, make the native species a potential victim, i.e., why can't the native species keep up with the invader? What source(s) of information did you use?

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E-mail Professor Gaud at gaud@jan.ucc.nau.edu
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