Download The Grey Squirrel

Blue lupine
(Lupinus angustifolius)
Origin and distribution
It is native to Eurasia and northern Africa and naturalized in parts of Australia and
North America. It has been cultivated for over 6000 years as ornamental plant and
also as a food crop
Anatomy:
The blue lupin belongs to the familie of the Fabaceae. It is sometimes exceeding
one meter. Each palmate leaf is divided into five to nine linear leaflets under four
centimeters long. The herbage is slightly hairy in some areas. The inflorescence
bears many flowers in shades of blue, violet, pink, or white. The fruit is a legume
pod containing seeds of varying colors. Lupinus angustifolius has a high content of
alkaloids. However, cultivars with a low alkaloid content have been bred. These low
alkaloid cultivars are called sweet lupins.
Use
Like other legumes, the narrow-leafed lupin fixes nitrogen in a symbiotic interaction
with different bacteria in the rhizosphere so the plant is used as a green manure.
In the future, lupins have a great potential as protein producers for processed
foods. They are also used for medical purposes to trat gastric diseaeses or also
skin diseases either eaten as used as a compress or mask.
American Bullfrog
(Lithobates catesbeianus)
Origin and distribution
The American bullfrog is native to southern and eastern parts of the United States
and Canada, but has been widely introduced across other parts of North, Central
and South America, Western Europe, and parts of Asia. The bullfrog is harvested
for use as food in North America and in several countries into which it has been
introduced. Other reasons for introducing the bullfrog are their intentional release
as biological control agents, the escape of frogs from breeding establishments, and
the escape or release of frogs kept as pets.[
Anatomy:
The American bullfrog has an olive green back and a whitish belly spotted with
yellow or grey. The upper lip is often bright green and males have yellow throats.
The eyes are prominent with brown irises and horizontal almond-shaped pupils.
Bullfrogs are sexually dimorphic, with males being smaller than females and having
yellow throats. Males have eardrums larger than their eyes, whereas the eardrums
in females are about the same size as the eyes. Bullfrogs measure about nine to
fifteen cm from snout to vent.
Problems
It is considered to be an invasive species and there is concern that it may
outcompete native species of amphibians and upset the ecological balance.
Conservationists are concerned the bullfrog is relatively immune to the fungal
infection chytridiomycosis and as it invades new territories, it may assist the spread
of this lethal disease to more susceptible native amphibian.
Canadian Waterweed
(Elodea canadiensis)
Origin and distribution
The Canadian or American Waterweed is a perennial aquatic plant native to most
of North America. It was first recorded from the British Isles in about 1836.
Anatomy:
Single specimens of the submergent macrophyte may reach lengths of 3 m or
more. Its leaves are bright green, translucent, 6-17 mm long and 1-4 mm broad,
borne in whorls of three (rarely two or four) round the stem. It lives entirely
underwater, the only exception being the small white or pale purple flowers which
float at the surface and are attached to the plant by delicate stalks. It is dioecious,
with male and female flowers on different plants. It is also able to propagate by
cuttings.
Problems
The Canadian Waterweed is frequently used as an aquarium plant. Brought into
lakes or rivers it grows rapidly in favorable conditions and can choke shallow
ponds, canals, and the margins of some slow-flowing rivers. It requires summer
water temperatures of 10-25 °C and moderate to bright lighting.
It is an invasive species in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Large populations
have to be harvested and all the cuttings have to be removed. They can be
composted and used as fertilizer.
Asian long horn beetle
(Anoplophora glabripennis)
Origin and distribution
The asian long horn beetle originally comes from China, Korea and Taiwan from
where it has come to Europe unintentionally within exotic wood, wodden packaging
material or through bonsai trading.
Anatomy:
The male beetles are about 2,5 centimeters in length, the females up to 4
centimeters. Both have black bodies with bright spots. The larvae are white with a
drawing on their chests that look pinnacle-shaped.
Problems
The non-specific feeding behaviour of the beetles causes severe problems for the
forestry. The females lay about 30 eggs in cracks of trees especially on willows and
poplars, as well as for example maple and fruit trees in Europe. The feeding of the
larvae causes sap flow which attracts wasps and hornets, a sign that the three is
infested and must be felled and burned.
The asian long horn beetle is listed among the one hundred most harmful invasive
species worldwide in the Global Invasive Species Database. Infected areas are
quarantined to prevent further infestation of other trees, affected trees have to be
felled and burned.
Common Ragweed
(Ambrosia artemisiifolia)
Origin and distribution
The common ragweed originally comes from North America from where it has come
to Europe unintentionally by shipping but also by air traffic. There it was able to
spread very quickly as it produces a huge amount of seeds.
It is a ruderal plant which means that it can grow for example at landfill or
construction sites. Quite frequently it grows underneath bird houses as bird food is
often contaminated with ragweed seeds.
Anatomy:
Charakteristic for this plant is its hairy stem. The leaves are bipinnate. The plant is
wind-pollinated, self-pollination is possible. The seeds remain germinable up to 40
years which makes it quite difficult to control the plant.
Problems
The ragweeds pollen is a very strong allergy trigger that causes severe allergies or
even asthma. Besides that ragweed competes with other ruderal plants. As these
ecosystems are quite sensitive a lot of plants are replaced.
Many states have allready set hotlines to report ragweed populations.
Environmental activists try to remove ragweed plants voluntarily. There is even an
European ban to import bird food comtaminated with ragweed seeds. Despite of
these measures the ragweed population constantly grows.
Himalayan Indian Balsam
(Impatiens glandulifera)
Origin and distribution
Originally the Himalayan Indian Balsam grows in India and the Himalaya area. It
was imported to Great Britain in 1939 as an ornamental plant and did spread fastly
through its ability to throw seeds very far. In 1935 first spots were reported in
Germany at Partenkirchen, Oberau and in the Isar valley. In the late 1990 the
discussion to control the expansion started.
Anatomy:
The Himalayan Balsam is easy to identify: Due to its beautiful pink or also white
flowers it is also called jewelweed. The leaves are sharply dentated and the height
is about one metre. It blooms from June until November.
Problems
The plant is extraordinary invasive and is suppressing all other local plants. A high
number of seeds and also the possibility to spread about sprout peaces make the
plant very succesful.
Though it is easy to pluck out the plants there is no official attempt to control the
further spread of the Himalayan Indian Balsam as the population is to large
allready. The seeds are able to germinate for four years so processed areas must
be controlled again and again and all of the plant material would have to be
composted very carefully.
Giant hogweed
(Heracleum mantegazzianum)
Origin and distribution
Origininally the giant hogweed grows in the Western Caucasus region and was
introduced in Germany as an ornamental plant to Germany in the 1850s.
Beekeepers planted hogweed also for their bees because of its wealth of flowers. It
spread quite fastly as the huge amount of seeds can be transported by water and
also by wind.
Anatomy
You cannot fail to identify the giant hogweed. The plants are 2 to 5 meters high, the
leaves up to 1 meter long and its white flowers are up to 80 centimeters in
diameter.
Problems
Due to ist height it suppresses all local plants. But even more dangerous is the
phototoxic reaction on bare skin caused by the plants sap. The skin injuries look
like severe burnings. It is not easy to control the plant. One plant is able to produce
up to 50.000 seeds that are germinable up to 15 years. The plant itself has quite big
roots up to 60 cm in lenght that are difficult to pluck out. One possibility to fight the
plant is to truncate the inflorescence at the beginning of flowering or to cut of the
plants over several years again and again.
Single plants, for example in your own garden, should by cut 10-15 cm below the
surface
Rainbow trout
(Elodea canadiensis)
Origin and distribution
The rainbow trout originally comes from North America where it was breed from
severeal American trout species. It was introduced to Germany in the 1880s and is
now spread in the trout region in the most German rivers.
Anatomy:
The most noticeable charakteristic of the rainbow trout is iridescent scales. As
every salmon-like species the rainbow trout has a fat fin, a small fin at the rear of
the back. In comparison to the native brook trouts the rainbow trout is much larger.
Adult trouts reach a size up to 70 centimeters and can reach a weight up to 20
kilogram.
Problems
The rainbow trout competes with native fish as the the brook trout for food and
habitate as they occupy the same ecological niche. But the brook trout´s
environmental tolerance is lower and so its population is decreasing while the
rainbow trouts population is increasing.
The Grey Squirrel
(Sciurus carolinensis)
The grey squirrel does inhabitate the same ecological niche as the native squirrel
species. Through using the same nest sites successively the Papovirus a pathogen
dangerous only for the European squirrels was transferred to them.
Another problem is that the grey squirrel digs out the winter stores of the European
squirrels. The native squirrels loose around one third of their food reserves and are
therefore weakend in springtime. So the birth rate of the European squirrels is
declining while the grey squirrels one is rising. In Great Briatin for example the grey
squirrel replaced native squirrels after it´s introduction at the beginning of the 20 th
century almost completely and it is about to do the same in Italy.
There are no real reports of grey squirrels in Germany by now but often they are
mixed up with native squirrels with grey fur. There are some charakteristics that
make it easy to keep the two species apart:
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The most important feature is the fur upon their ear. Native squirrels
brushes, tufts of hair, on their ears, grey squirrels do not have brushes.
Grey squirrels are about one third larger than the European ones.
There are also differences in behaviour.
Grey squirrels are considered to be more aggressive and daring.
Their food choice is less picky and they are more active in winter time.
Japanese knotweed
(Fallopia japonica)
Origin and distribution
Japanese knotweed is native to Eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea where the
young stems are eaten as a spring vegetable, with a flavor similar to extremely sour
rhubarb. It was brought to Europe in the 1820s as ornamental plant and especially
beekeepers planted it for their bees. Today it is still cultivated as botanical privacy
shield.
Anatomy:
Japanese knotweed, is a large perennial plant of the family Polygonaceae. It has
hollow stems with distinct raised nodes that give it the appearance of bamboo,
though it is not closely related. While stems may reach a maximum height of 3–4 m
each growing season, it is typical to see much smaller plants in places where they
sprout through cracks in the pavement or are repeatedly cut down. The leaves are
broad oval with a truncated base, 7–14 cm long and 5–12 cm broad, with an entire
margin. The flowers are small, cream or white, produced in erect racemes 6–15 cm
long in late summer and early autumn.
Problems
It is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world's worst invasive
species. The invasive root system and strong growth can damage concrete
foundations, buildings, flood defences, roads, paving, retaining walls and
architectural sites. It can also reduce the capacity of channels in flood defences to
carry water.
In North America and Europe the species is very successful. Controlling is quite
difficult as Japanese knotweed has a large underground network of roots
(rhizomes). To eradicate the plant the roots need to be killed. Picking the right
herbicide is essential, as it must travel through the plant and into the root system
below. The treated areal has to be controlled repeatedly for several years.