Non-indigenous Species in NE
A Catalog of the Introduced Species of Birds, Fish, and Plants of the Platte River Ecosystem

           
Biological invasions have been occurring since the beginning of time. Most of the time these invasions take place on accident, but with the spread of humans, many more invasions are happening on purpose. The Introduction of exotic species can have a dramatic effect on the new ecosystem into which they have been introduced.

Purple-Loosestrife

One of the first problems that we face is defining what it means to be native or exotic. On the surface, this seems easy: Native (indigenous) is defined as a species that occurs naturally in an ecosystem and “is a species that, other than as a result of an introduction, historically occurred or currently occurs in that ecosystem”.  In contrast, an exotic species is an introduced, non-native species of plant or animal that does not occur naturally in that ecosystem.

A subset of exotic species are termed “invasive” meaning that they are alien to the ecosystem, and their introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm. Therefore, native or indigenous species are those that have not been introduced by humans either accidentally or intentionally. Non-indigenous (non-native) applies to a species that have been introduced by humans either accidentally or intentionally (www.invasivespecies.gov/laws/, Oxford,1998).

Largemouth Bass

The objectives of this paper are to examine some biological invasions in Nebraska, and document the reasons for introduction and the effects of the introduction on the Platte River ecosystem for select species.

Abstract

Introduction

Materials & Methods

Results

Birds
Fish
Plants

Acknowledgments

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