Invasive Species Research Paper

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Pages: 3

An invasive species is defined as a species that is non-native to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. We need to worry about invasive species because almost half of the native species in the United States are endangered because of them. Such species make it difficult or impossible for native plants and animals to survive in the affected ecosystem. The Sturnus vulgar, often known as the Common or European Starling is a common an invasive species. The European Starlings are popular now, it all started with sixty birds and has increased to around two-hundred million; a 3,333,333% increase. The European Starling originated from Europe and became common in North America when birds were set loose in New York’s Central Park in the 1890’s. In 1890, Eugene Schieffelin, a Shakespeare enthusiast, released sixty European Starlings in New York’s time square along with forty other birds. He let all of these birds loose to introduce North America to all the different birds mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. He also introduced the House Sparrow thirty years prior, and had also tried …show more content…
For much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy flocks. Starlings are very boisterous, and are always scaring away sapsuckers. Sapsuckers are important to other species of animals because it helps the animals like squirrels and bats get to the sap. Because of this, sapsuckers like the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker are declining in population numbers. On top of eating sapsuckers, they also eat insects that are beneficial to crops, like spiders and worms. The Starling is loathed by farmers for their invasiveness, they destroy and eat crops and also use the orchards as nesting