I was watching a documentary on
Aljazeera when a term came up. The term is invasive species. It was new to me.
I knew the term endangered species. Right away it clicked in my mind that
invasive species must be a cause of endangered species. Because of my passion
for nature resulting in the running of this blog, I purposed to look into the
subject to know the worst offenders. The end result is this post.
On hearing the phrase invasive
species, again right away I started analyzing it. I took the first word first.
Invasive is the adjectival form of invasion. The verb form invade means to
enter a place and occupy it, harm people or inmates of the place, destroy
property and drive the inmates away. Then I came to the second word species.
That I thought was life form of a kind. When I put the two together, I get one
life form of a kind from a habitat invading another life form of a kind in
their habitat.
However, I should like us to get
technical. Generally defined as a plant, animal or fungus from one habitat to
another with the tendency to spread in the new habitat to the point of
destroying the natural environment, human economy and human health.
There are variations of the
definition though. They are as follows:
v
Invasive species are new species introduced to a
new area where there were original species. The new species dominate the
original species and their space, causing damage to the natural environment,
upsetting the ecosystem, destroying biodiversity. Some invasive plant species
are described as exotic pest plants or invasive exotics. This sense of the term
is used by government organizations and conservation bodies such as the International
Union for Conservation of Nature. The European Union describes Invasive Alien
Species as those that are 1) outside their habitat, and 2) threaten biological
diversity. They have customize the term by inserting the word alien. In Ghana,
West Africa, water hyacinth is taking over some areas of the Volta River,
upsetting aquatic life and depriving fishermen of their livelihood.
v
The term is used sometimes to mean an introduced
species along with native species that have taken over an area.
v
Another sense of the term is an introduced
species that has become widespread. It is not every introduced species that is
harmful to the environment. The introduction of the cocoa tree in Ghana is an
example.
There is another species that is
quite different from the species described so far. They have developed far more
sophisticated societies than animals. I am talking about the human species.
Beavers do build dams, however when compared with dams built by men, there is a
vast difference between the dam built by the animal and the one built by man.
That should give you an illustration of the vast gap between human species and
the animal species, much more the plant species.
HOMO SAPIENS
Modern humans or Homo sapiens are
believed to be the only surviving group of the human clade (biologically clade
is a group of organisms considered to have evolved from a common ancestor-
Collins English Dictionary), of which the family of the great ape is related to.
They are characterize by erect postures, walk on two feet and have skills with
the hands. They have inclination to use tools. Well that is the gospel
according to evolution. If you believe in the creation, that is another ball
game.
As I have said the human species
is more sophisticated than the other species. The human species has the ability
to think, reason and make decisions, and to be confronted with moral issues. If
you argue that animals too do these things then let me put it this way: humans
have the advantage of magnitude, take the beaver example, for example. I think
animals are rather instinctual.
Through the foregoing processes
the human species has become so creative. The human species has conceived,
developed and structured education. Education is multidisciplinary and
evolving. There is the general split of education into arts and science. The
arts include music, art, literature, theater, languages etc. Science includes,
space science, Earth science, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and the
subject of ICT (Information Communication Technology). ICT has been shrinking
the world in terms of communication. These are but few examples through which
the Homo sapiens has made so much tremendous advancement in its civilization.
However, the achievement of such
advancement by the Homo sapiens has left in its trail devastating consequences,
making the Homo sapiens the most invasive species. I am going to look at the
devastating consequences from three perspectives. The natural environment is
basically parted into three. The three are atmosphere (air), water and earth (ground)
- these three contain living things.
ATMOSPHERE
Fossil fuel is important for the
Homo sapiens in attaining the development it has attained yet. Fossil fuel is a
component of the inorganic part of the natural environment. Fossil fuel
includes oil and coal. In the combustion of fossil fuel to generate energy for
development, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas is emitted into the atmosphere.
It is believed that starting from the industrial revolution carbon dioxide
emitted into the atmosphere cumulatively, is threatening the very survival of Homo
sapiens themselves, and the natural environment at large. The carbon dioxide
emitted into the atmosphere traps heat from the sun which increases atmospheric
temperature in the lower atmosphere. The result is changes in weather and
climate patterns the Earth is witnessing now.
WATER
In extracting oil from the ground
for processing to meet the energy needs of the Homo sapiens in development,
invasion occurs. There has been oil spillages, harming marine life forms,
destroying ecosystems and biodiversity. Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere, but because of the greenhouse carbon dioxide, temperature in the
ocean increases upsetting habitats of certain marine life forms. Plastic has
become permanent feature the civilization of Homo sapiens. When one goes to a
shop to buy things they are served in plastic carrier bags. In Ghana, at
instant food joints, food is served in plastic carrier bags. These plastic carrier
bags somehow find their way into the ocean. Marine creatures swallow them up,
creating digestive problems for them. Some plastic materials fall on the coral
reef dislocating breeding grounds for marine life forms.
EARTH
An area through which Homo sapiens
is invading the natural environment is agriculture. The use of chemical
fertilizer to grow crops kills life forms in the ground that help to keep the
ground fertilized organically. The use of fertilizer result in diminishing
returns. Another area of invasion is genetic modification of organisms, the
result is Genetically Modified Organism (GMO). There are seeds that are
genetically modified. With the genetically modified seed you plant once and
that is it, you cannot use that which is harvested as seed, unlike the
organically grown seed you get seed from the harvest for planting the next
season. Through GMO, perhaps with time, the organic seed may disappear from the
scene.
I have tried to define the term
invasive species, generally and in variations. Invasive species are plants,
animals and humans. Generally, a species moves or are introduced from one
habitat into another one and take over the new area, causing damage. Of all the
invasive species, Homo sapiens is the most invasive. The very invasiveness of
the Homo sapiens is threatening the foundations of its civilization.
I suppose this should serve as an
additional rallying cry to Homo sapiens to relook at its invasive methodologies
of development and redirect its thought and energies into new and emerging
methodologies for a clean and sustainable natural environment.
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