The topic of foreign or alien species introduced into different environments has been a bit of interest to me for some time, but I have not put anything on the web about it as I have no personal information to provide. In fact I have sometimes felt like putting up a list of interesting topics to do some (web-based?) research on.
Please use and review these or feel free to get in touch and submit any other web page URLs which appear to be relevant.
Of course, since all of these web pages are external to Biotopics, I cannot be held responsible for their content and make no claims as to their appropriateness, or even their authenticity.
Suggested task: scan through some of these references below, follow up on their own links and look up some others if you like (or look in books!), then pick on one (or two, or three) example/examples that interests/interest you.
Name the alien species,
try to give information on how it got into its new habitat (not always known, but often traceable back to Man!)
describe its effect on the ecosystem, especially on other species but also the environment itself.
It is important that any user of information from the internet gets into the habit of identifying the source if it is copied (even in part) for coursework or homework. There should be no penalty for using information sources like textbooks and the internet - after all background research is expected. Most authors do not mind students using pictures because they often make written accounts more interesting but these should also be credited, using the URL of the web page concerned.
However, if anyone passes off other people's work as their own, they are guilty of plagiarism.
Partly for this reason, I have left the full website URL visible below to assist in correctly identifying the proper sources for these articles.
It is never good enough to put the name of the search engine used instead of the source of the page used.
A more advanced and densely presented article on
Introduced Species in the Bay of Fundy (Canada) and Environs.
“alien invasions are a major cause of declining
biodiversity in Canada, second only to habitat loss”
https://www.bofep.org/alien_species.htm
The Source for Information and Images of Invasive & Exotic Species
A joint project of The University of Georgia's Bugwood Network, USDA Forest Service and USDA APHIS PPQ.
https://www.invasive.org/
Some of these suggestions seem rather apocryphal, but there are a few articles below.
Deer on an unspecified island in Canada; population saved by arrival of wolves?
Curiously web searches reveal several instances of Canadian islands with thriving or excessive populations of deer, seemingly advertising themselves as ideal for human hunting (with guns). Possibly the same conclusion?
Rabbits in Australia
Stag beetles in Japan:
Native Stag Beetles in a Losing Battle in Japan.
The total number of imported insects is believed to be one to two million a year, while beetle collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Japan.
https://home.att.ne.jp/kiwi/AptNo7/beetles.html
Japanese knotweed in UK countryside
The home page for the UK-based Japanese knotweed alliance which was established in November 1999 to highlight the problems posed by this invasive weed and to promote its natural control with natural predators. https://www.cabi-bioscience.org/html/japanese_knotweed_alliance.htm
Other examples may touch upon topics such as biological control, and human carelessness!
Copy these into your own favourite search engine!