Invasive Species

Hello, this isWild Suzhou. Today, we will betalking about invasive species. What are they, and what are some of the mostdestructive ones? First, what is aninvasive species? An invasive species is any organism, such as a plant, aninsect, or a bird, that has been introduced to an ecosystem that it doesn’tbelong in, and is now causing harm. An invasive species can cause harm byhurting the environment or human health. They usually are spreadunintentionally by humans, such as rats getting onto a ship from Europe thenspreading to the Americas. Now, what are someexamples of particularly destructive invasive species? The first would bemosquitoes, specifically, the Asian tiger mosquito and the yellow fevermosquito. They cause lots of damage through the diseases they spread, such asZika, Chikungunya, yellow fever, and dengue, which cause significant threats topublic health. A second fairlydestructive invasive species would be rats. This is due to a few things. First,they are very strong and resistant and have driven many native species toextinction. The Pacific Rat, native to southeast Asia, has wiped out 1000 ormore species of island birds. Additionally, rats are pests that destroy cropsand also spread disease. Third, cats arealso very dangerous invasive species. Being skilled predators, feral cats haveno problem hunting birds and small mammals for food, but this can often driveanimals to extinction. For Wild Suzhou,I’m Ciana, thanks for listening, and see you next time.