Invasive Species-Attack of the Alien Invaders , March, 2005 National Geographic Magazine
Over the next 100 years roughly half of the species on Earth will completely disappear. Forty percent of those extinctions are caused by biological invasions. Yet, we make the planet increasingly hospitable for species that thrive in disturbed, human-dominated environments.
Kudzu and other weedy plants, feral cats, monitoar lizards, burmese pythons, snails, deer, frogs are just a few of the invaders taking over tropical grassland ecocystems.
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Jason Millsaps rips into a shroud of kudzu...
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Charlie Vogel, 8, pleads with his father for a...
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A Burmese Python slithers across a road it was...
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A cat is given gas so he can be neutered....
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Feral kittens are dropped at the doorstep of a...
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Hunters shot several elusive Axis deer on...
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An oil tanker glides under San Francisco's...
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Leslie Harris of the Natural History Museum of...
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The Kanoa harvests taro leaves on the farm that...
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The golden apple snail was introduced to Hawaii...
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War is waged on the Coqui frog because its...
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The community of Pahoa, south of Hilo and near...
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Seed spreads from Melaleuca pods by blowing in...
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PW Green (Port Washington green) a non-profit...
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Sheep run leafy spurge like it's a salad bar....
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Stray cats come to volunteer Doris Fortune as...
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Soft-hearted volunteers like Suki McDermott...
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After surgery, cats are lined up in beds as...
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Kitties flock to a golf course feeding at Ocean...
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Reptile shows are full of exotic snakes for...
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Desiree Wong holds two Ciman rhinocerous...
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An endangered Chinese crocodile is shown by...
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Residents gaze in wonder at a 4.5-foot...
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Monitor lizards caught in the canals near Cape...
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West coast of Lanai, Hawaii, a once private...
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Mikala Santos plays in the taro patch while her...
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Cayuga ducks were imported to help control the...
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Cayuga ducks follow along back to the taro...
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Axis deer were a royal gift to the islands in...
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Skilled hunters bagged several elusive Axis...
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A container ship passes under the Golden Gate...
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The pier at Fort Baker on the north side of the...
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Gretchen Lambert, University of Washington...
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Scientists collect samples under a pier and...
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A lone fisherman at Fort Baker dips his line...
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A driver washes his windshield while waiting to...
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Afternoon sun breaks through storm clouds and...
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Prairie smoke and other native flowers bloom...
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Yellow flowering eurasian leafy spurge spreads...
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Kent Vandenburg moves 1400 sheep from one...
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Drew Kuntz and Ty Tousignan practice roping...
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Decked out in a black hat, shades and big belt...
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Border collies to help manage 240 sheep the...
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Border collies get lots of love on the Fritz...
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Joe Fritz and nephew Drew Kuntz look on as...
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Shannon Fritz moves cattle from her atv on the...
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Roping new calves for branding, family, friends...
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Family, friends and neighbors get together to...
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Cattle and sheep graze on a North Dakota State...
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A rancher moves cattle across the land with the...
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A restored prairie of native plants in Lake...
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Forests of dead Melaleuca trees stand in...
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Forests of dead Melaleuca trees stand in...
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Forests of dead Melaleuca trees stand in...
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Workers attack individual saplings of Melaleuca...
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A work crew stops for a short break and water...
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A swath of dead Brazilian pepper plant borders...
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A Georgia highway cuts through rolling waves of...
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Park biologist Laurie Oberhoffer goes after an...
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A baby monitor lizard (Varanus niloticus) from...
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Greg and Todd Campbell, University of Tampa,...
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Burrowing owls peek out from their home in a...
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Cats gather around the food dish in the private...
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Susan Hershey walks with her stray cats on the...
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Jennifer Byrne collects caterpillers as...
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Jennifer Wilson Pines plants natives to her...
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Nursery workers inspect plants for eggs which...
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Wrapped and sprayed, plants await export in the...
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A nursery worker unloads plants that will be...
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Neighbors take to the jungle to battle a frog....
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The northeast coast of Maui is rugged and...
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Gladys and Isaac Kanoa work a taro farm in the...
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The golden apple snail lays eggs (pink...
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Isaac Kanoa leaves muddy prints in the taro...
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Gladys Kanoa harvests taro leaves on the farm...