30% of Extinction is Due to Invasive Species!

Do you know about invasive species? Even if you do, you should read this blog post. 

Invasive species are species that were brought to one place by humans, but they do NOT fit in. Never bring a species of animal to a place that's never had them before. It can cause mass destruction. They steal resources from native species and don't give anything back to the environment, for example food or a good background for photos. By stealing all the resources, they kill native species because there is then no more resources for them. 

On a 15 minute walk with my class last winter, only around my school, I saw thousands if not millions of European Buckthorn! It is an invasive species in the area where I live. European Buckthorn produces berries that are toxic to humans, but I'm not going to go into the side effects here. Search it up if you would like to. And European Buckthorn grows in such tight thickets that, inside one of the thickets on my walk, I saw a few dead trees. The European Buckthorn had stolen all of its resources and left it to die. And it was a native tree! See what I mean? One invasive species did that. 

I am hoping to clear out at least some of the European Buckthorn with my teacher and a few friends soon. 

Eventually, everywhere will just be invasive species. There will no longer be native species. Every day 150-200 species go extinct! And invasive species were found to be involved in 33.4% of animal extinction and 25.5% of plant extinction. 

Following are some solutions I think we could do. 

  • Invasive species busting event. Gather some of your friends and a trusted adult and bust some invasive species. It would feel wrong to kill an animal, even if it was invasive and murderous, so try to stick to getting rid of the plant invasive species. And make sure you are only busting the invasive species. Before you go, make sure you have memorized exactly what they look like so you aren't killing native species, thinking they are the invasive ones. 
  • Research invasive species in your area and ways to prevent them from spreading. 
  • Plant more native species in areas where invasive species are not present. 
Thanks for reading my blog post! Make sure to share this with your friends and try at least one of the solutions. Together, we can change the world. 

-EarthLover24     

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