Alien Species Contribute to Global Extinctions
From Dawn Slack, our INPS Invasive Education team leader…
Our Governor’s proclamation naming April 7-13 as Invasive Species Awareness Week in Indiana comes on the heels of a new study that provides evidence that the biogeographical origin of a species matters.
This study published today in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment concluded that 300 of 953 global extinctions occurred partially due to alien species and 42% of the 300 happened directly because of alien species.
They concluded that the evolutionary history of a species plays a significant part in a species potential to be invasive and negatively impact the environment.
Check it out (link below) and let’s spread the word about how special our native species are.
Spring is just around the corner, so I hope you’ll plan an activity to inspire action to manage invasive species and celebrate our native species during Indiana’s Invasive Species Awareness Week.
Publication: Alien versus native species as drivers of recent extinctions.
Tim M. Blackburn, Celine Bellard, Anthony Ricciardi
04 March 2019
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment/Volume 0, Issue 0