02-24-2005, 06:52 AM
ShadowHM,Feb 23 2005, 08:01 AM Wrote:I just read an article in this month's National Geographic magazine about the many kinds of alien invaders that have spread around our world. Many are innocuous; many are not.
But it did get me wondering, given the international membership here, just what alien invaders you have to deal with, and just how much they affect you.
Sheep
Cattle
Goats
Deer
Pigs
Chickens
Cats
Dogs
Rats
Stoats
Ferrets
Possums
Rabbits
Sparrows
Wasps (Germanic and Asian)
Argentine ants
White tussock moth
Certain species of mosquito known to be vectors for Ross River Virus
Varroa mites (Which harm honey bees, which I believe are also imported, but we also have native bees, which are not (industrially at least) honey producers)
(Not clear on many of the insects)
Pretty much every plant in every household garden (Many natives don't flower)
Pretty much every crop plant (all fruit, most (if not all) vegetables)
Most industrial plants (E.G. Pine trees)
Most structural / decorative plants (e.g. willows on riverbanks, cabbage trees, gorse originally used as cheap hedges)
Multiple Aquatic species including algal blooms,crustaceans and shellfish, and various water plants.
Carp
Trout
Various micro-life (viruses and bacteria), mostly associated with other imported hosts
(e.g. mixamatosis(sp?) in rabbits, tuberculosis, various fruit crop blights)
The aliens pretty much outnumber the natives. And we've only been here (NZ) in large numbers for 150 years.