Invasive Species

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Invasive Species (intro)

Every plant and animal species prefer to live in certain habitats – for example, rainforests, grasslands, deserts or shallow seas – where they can find enough food, water, and sunlight to survive.

An ecosystem is a collection of habitats in which living things and non-living nature interact in a balanced way. Humans have negative impacts on ecosystems in a wide range of ways – by clearing forests, building cities, damming rivers and changing the climate, for example.

But introducing a new species can damage an ecosystem in very deep ways that are difficult to fix.

A species is invasive if they harm the environment or other species and they are not native.

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Consumers

Primary Consumers - Herbivores which feed on plants and shrubs.

Secondary Consumers - Omnivores and carnivores which feed on other animals.

Tertiary Consumers - The top of the food chain, they are omnivores and carnivores. They eat both primary and secondary consumers.

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Biological Control

Introducing a new species to prey on, or compete with, an invasive species.

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Chemical Control

The use of chemicals to kill pests.

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Food Webs and Chains

A food web is many food chains which are joined together. A food chain shows one single route of how a single species shows its route to get food whilst a web shows how the species are interconnected.