Invasive Species: Killer Shrimp Invades the UK

Killer Shrimp Invades the UK!

Travel and nature magazine on 09.15.2010

Written by: David DeFranza.

Wanted!! Better dead than alive! The killer Shrimp

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/09/killer-shrimp-invades-the-uk.php?campaign=th_rss

Summary:When the eastern gray squirrel was introduced to the UK during the 19th and 20th centuries, it quickly found a niche— out-pacing the smaller, weaker, and generally less fit native red squirrel throughout England. Since then, conservations have struggled to preserve the  populations of red squirrel and the eastern gray has become a symbol of a dangers invasive species

Now, an alien shrimp has appeared in the coastal waters of the UK and experts fear the arrival may be the aquatic equivalent of the gray squirrel introduction. The shrimp, Dikerogammarus villosus, better known as "killer shrimp," is a predator native to freshwater habitats in Eastern Europe. However, it's ability to tolerate a wide range of temperatures, levels of salinity, and oxygen concentrations has allowed it to spread quickly throughout Western Europe. Once established, the killer shrimp hunts voraciously, often killing other crustaceans and small fish without even eating them. As a result, the shrimp has had a significant impact on freshwater ecosystems from Germany to France to the Netherlands and now, the coast of England.

Opinion:

When i first read the article, I was surprised to find out that shrimp can be danger to other species, I was sure that they are one of the only species that just wait to be eaten by others, but i was wrong about shrimp!

I think that these kind of shrimp is a danger to the world because it ruins that balance and biodiversity near the UK shores.

Scientists in the UK should find a way to get rid of these species as fast as they can before they make a great impact on the biodiversity in the area.

Question:

1.what do you think would happen if someone would catch the shrimp and eat it for dinner?

2.How do you think it will impact the UK sea biodiversity?

3.Do you think there are ways to stop the spreading of this shrimp?

 

IN SEARCH OF THE GRIZZLY( IF ANY ARE LEFT)

By: William Yardley

Published Sept 16, 2010

Grizzly bears have been called endangered since 1975. They have not been sighted in the North Cascadas since 1996. Explorers are going out and exploring weather grizzy bears still exsist in this area. Some people disagreeeon the fact that bringing grizzlies should come back into this area. They think it will bring more conflict than ever. Farmers think they are a danger to people and to animals. A bear in the wild is not the same as a loveable stuffed teddy bear at home. For thirty years the government has been working on this endangered species population in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming. One to two million dollars have been put aside for helping these bears in these states.

I am so happy that someone is taking a notice to things like this. One or two million dollars is a lot of money but I honestly think its worth it! Endangered species argurments can go on forever but I am a strong believer that sometimes its humans fault for animals going extinct. These types of bears used to be hunted before they became endangered and protected by the state. They are a part of the food chain and the eco-system. We need to keep them around!

Do you think that grizzles should be brought back into these areas?

What do you think about all this money going to endangered species?

Do you think about the food chain? Are grizzles important?

In Nature’s Immigration Fight, Newcomers Battle Natives

By: Renwick McLean

Published August 29, 2006

The Canary Islands are mostly dry and hot, but they are home to over 4000 endemic species. There is an area called Cruz del Carmen in Tenerife, Canary Islands and it's a tropical forest that has very high biodiversity. On average, scientists discover a new species or subspecies every six days and any handful of soil can easily contain four or five native species of insects. Although Cruz del Carmen is teeming with life, other parts of the Canary Islands are under attack. Invasive species cut the percentage of indigenous plant species in half and now only one out of two plant species are native. Generally, a foreign species invades the Canary Islands every 17 days, and every six months one of those foreign species seriously threatens the native species and habitats. The regional government says about 20 indigenous species are endangered. The centeral government in Madrid isn't acting swiftly enough to correct the problem, so the director of the regional government's environmental protection agency thinks Madrid should give them more authority to monitor what comes into the area.

In my opinion, I think that the central government in Madrid should take the issue seriously and make it a priority to maintain the habitats and native species on the Canary Islands. I think the environmental protection agency should have more power to observe the borders and keep the foreign species out. The invasive species problem will rapidly become worse if we don't focus our attention on it. The consequeces of leaving the environment under attack will be disasterous! One out of four plant species used to be native. Now it's only one out of two. Soon the foreign species will completely take over!

Questions

1. If you were the central government in Madrid what would you decide to do?


2. How do you think the invaders made the percentage of native plant species decrease?


3. Do you think that low biodiversity is going to be a significant problem in the future? Explain your answer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/world/europe/29canary.html?ex=1314504000&en=9d18347a78a81c64&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rssc=rss

Nature's Biodiversity Falls Even Lower

"UN: Nature's diversity fast disappearing, harming life on Earth."

By: dpa

Date: Monday, May 10th, 2010

The third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook has made it official that nature's biodiversity is hitting critically low levels. Due to the sinking biodiversity levels of most environments, many human services and uses of these ecosystems are going to be nonexistent. Now that the biodiversity is so low, the ecosystems are becoming so nonproductive that we no longer have any use for them. Coral reefs have no fish and less life because of overfishing, pollution, and different temperature water flow. Rain forests are being destroyed because of fires, construction, and new rain patterns caused by pollution. We as humans are destroying and changing these ecosystems too fast and the species living within them can't adapt fast enough to survive.

In my opinion, if we don't do something to help build these ecosystems back up, we'll not only be harming them, but we'll be killing ourselves. By destroying one or two species we could be completely destroying the chain of the environment and some of these ecosystems are slipping into states where there's no guarantee that we can bring them back to their original state. We won't have the trees we need to build our homes, we won't have the plants and meat we need to survive, and we won't have any of the pluses like natural gases, valuable stones, or just good things from nature that we take for granted. If we don't stop polluting and destroying our environment, we're going to lose many of our essential resources and we won't be able to get them back.

Why do you think keeping the biodiversity levels up in ecosystems is important?

What do you think we can do to help fix the environments that we've destroyed?

Is there anyone particular ecosystem that you think is failing more than any other?

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/322992,un-natures-diversity-fast-disappearing-harming-life-on-earth.html

China's population grows 420million

In china, in the last year there has been an increase of close to 36 million more people on the internet and on phones in china alone. China's population is over 1.6 billion people and is growing more and more every year. Out of this, surveys said that about 277million people get on the internet with their phones. The governmnet thinks that this will be a problem. Communist governments around china do not like this because they are used to a very tight hold over information and do not want it flying around so freely.

Do you think that the large increas of population is somthing to be worried about in the future?

Will the communist governments do somthing in order to gain control over information again?

If you had say in what would happen what are some of your thoughts and ideas on this topic?


www.foxnews.com/world



By: Shalin Amin