Download Invasive Species Control

Invasive Species Control Ball State Natural Resources and Environmental Management Moya Smith Scott Townsend Background When a non‐native species is introduced to a new area, it can completely dominate its new habitat. When these species are allowed to flourish in an area, they displace native wildlife. Such species are dubbed invasive, and cause major harm to the native ecosystem. One of the reasons that invasive species are able to succeed is that they often leave their predators and competitors behind in their native ecosystems. Without these natural checks and balances they are able to reproduce rapidly and out‐compete native species. Invasive species can alter ecological relationships among native species and can severely affect ecosystem function. Nuisance species are similar to invasive species in that they can cause destruction to an ecosystem. Generally speaking, a nuisance species is any animal that causes destruction to human property or is menacing, or is prone to carrying zoonotic disease. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) offers a number of strategies on combatting nuisance waterfowl. CommonInvasiveSpeciesFoundinthe
MississinewaWatershed
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Bush Honeysuckle
Common Carp
Snakehead
Zebra Mussel
White Perch
Best Management Practices Reducing the impact of non‐native species on the landscape: ‐
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Use native plants when landscaping Monitor your property for invasives (including ag fields, prairies, and woods) Control invasives by eradicating when feasible Seek technical assistance from Purdue Extension Reducing impacts of nuisance species: ‐
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Remove food sources; don’t let spilled food accumulate on the ground. Prevent access to chimneys, maintain soffits to prevent access to attics, keep dampers closed when not in use. Garbage cans should be made of heavy metal and have lockable or tight‐fitting lids to prevent access. Cover window wells with grates, bubbles or hardware cloth. Fence gardens and cover fruit trees and berry bushes with netting, or use an approved non‐toxic repellent spray. Repair broken, weak, or rotted areas on the roof, soffit, and fascia of your house. Mark large windows with strips of white tape or raptor silhouettes to prevent birds from flying into windows The IDNR also offers suggestions to encourage nuisance waterfowl to leave an already occupied area: ‐
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Use loud noises (loud whistles, air horns, or banging pots and pans) Spray birds with high pressure water deterrents (garden hose). Use visual devices (motion sensor lights, decoys, predator silhouettes). 1 Threeatened, EEndangered, and Rarre Species
Thhe Mississinew
wa Watershed serves as haabitat for a nu
umber of speccies that are claassified as end
dangered (higgh risk of exxtinction), threeatened (vuln
nerable to enndangerment)), or rare (infrrequently enncountered) b
by the Internaational Union for Coonservation of Nature (IUC
CN). Wettlands Resstoration Beenefits of Weetland Restoration: Wetlands restorattion is the pro
ocess by whicch an ecosystem is returneed to a ‐ Improvvement of waater quality closee approximatiion of its cond
dition prior to
o disturbance
e. Additionallyy, the term ‐ Pollutaant reduction
resto
oration meanss the reestablishment of p
pre‐disturbance aquatic fu nctions ‐ Flood aattenuation and rrelated physiccal, chemical and biologicaal characterisstics. Restorattion is a ‐ Increassed esthetics
holisttic process, th
hat is, it cann
not be comple
eted by altering one aspecct of an ‐ Recreational opporttunities ecosyystem at a tim
me. Rather, all variables m
must be examiined and channges ‐ Fish an
nd wildlife ressources impleemented collectively. Additionally, wettlands restoraation can helpp with the cconservation of endangere
ed or threaten
ned species. SSome of thes e species have been forced out of their p
preferred hab
bitats by invassive species, so restoring h
habitat would
d include rem
moval of invassive species, aallowing an endangered sp
pecies to reesstablish itself.. Whaat’s Next? One of the most important asp
pects of prese
ervation of an
n endangeredd species is ed
ducation. Many individualss are simply unaw
ware of the th
hreatened staatus of many sspecies in the
eir own regionn. Therefore, if endangereed species aree unknown to
o them
m, they cannot make effortts to correct aany behavior that may havve contributed to a speciess becoming d
diminished. To
o learn
n more about endangered,, threatened, or rare species in your reggion, visit thee U.S. Fish and
d Wildlife Serrvice at http://www.fws.ggov/midwest//endangered//lists/indiana‐spp.html or the IDNR at htttp://www.in.ggov/dnr/natu
urepreserve/4
4666.htm 2 2