Some of the invasive species are snakehead fish in Florida, zebra mussels in Great Lakes regions, cane toads in Australia and water hyacinth|Brian Gratwicke; Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|CC BY 2.0
More than 3,500 invasive plant and animal species cost the global economy a staggering $423 billion-plus in damages each year, according to a new report by the United Nations.
Based on 2019 data, the report warns that if left unchecked, invasive species like snakehead fish in Florida, zebra mussels around the Great Lakes, water hyacinth, and cane toads in Australia could drive native wildlife and plants to extinction.
The spillover effect will also cause catastrophic losses to farming and marine industries, as well as pose a threat to human health. The deadly Maui wildfire is an example of the same; the fire spread easily due to invasive non-native grasses and higher temperatures.
How did we get here?
As international trade grows, some native species of plants and wildlife get intentionally or accidentally transferred to new environments. Some experts predict, more than 37,000 species have spread around the world.
Most of them aren’t harmful and often don’t survive in the new place. However, the ones that survive multiply and sometimes even overtake the habitat, removing the original species present there.
Can it be solved?
Solutions are already being carried out, like fishermen that hunt down snakehead fish, European shore crabs, and several such species. But some of these are trickier to weed out. Invasive plants have seeds that lay dormant for years before they sprout.
But it is “a manageable problem if the investment and the commitment are there,” says one of the UN report leaders.
Other findings
- The world has seen economic damages quadrupled from invasive species every decade since 1970.
- Alien invasive species played a key role in 60% of recorded plant and animal extinctions.
- Water hyacinth is the most widespread invasive species in the world. It grows rapidly and creates a thick layer over a water body which doesn’t allow sunlight to reach the other aquatic plants, eventually killing them. Its decaying process depletes the water of oxygen.