Characteristics of Invasive Species
European buckthorn, first introduced to North America as a garden shrub, has several characteristics that make it successful in our area: • Broad habitat requirements • No natural predators • Well adapted to local climate • Fast growing • Hard to kill • Strong reproducer - produces a lot of seed Rusty crayfish is an aquatic species native to other regions of North America and spread primarily through bait bucket release. It exhibits the following characteristics: • Broad habitat requirements • Relatively few natural predators • Spreads rapidly – released from bait buckets • Well adapted to local climate • High reproductive rate • Aggressive - monopolizes bottom habitats
Garlic mustard vs. wood poppy It is the nature of invasive species that poses such a risk to many of Ontario’s endangered species. Invasives grow and reproduce quickly, they have the capacity to survive on a wide number of sites, and they often do exceptionally well in disturbed areas. The wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), a native species on the endangered species list, has very specific site requirements and is found in only two small locations in Ontario, one of which is now being impacted by garlic mustard, a very invasive plant from Europe. What do you think the wood poppy’s future is in Ontario? Is it worth trying to save a species that may have once been plentiful but now, thanks to habitat loss and new threats posed by an invasive species, may be doomed to extirpation from the province? What if one of the populations of wood poppy was on your property? Would you work to save it? 19 Invasive Species: Management Options for the Ontario Landowner