Fighting Invasive Species

Invasive species are those which are not native to an area, and having no natural predators in a particular habitat, flourish at the expense of native and intentional plant and animal species. These species adversely affect the areas they invade and inhabit by negatively impacting that particular ecosystem. Invasive weeds can interfere with crop growth by absorbing the water and nutrients in the soil, thus depriving the crop.

Invasive pests can invade a new habitat in which they have no natural predators to control them, and quickly lay waste to that environment. These typically-accidental introductions of pests and weeds threaten the economic and public health, as well as the environment and ecosystems that they affect.

With increases in globalization, America is importing a lot more of its food and other goods today. Non-native pests are entering the country all the time, and U.S. growers have to be able to control these pests with crop protection products in order to continue to produce quality crop yields. Pesticides also help safeguard the public health threat posed by these species- by controlling invasive pests that cause disease and property damage, such as mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus and malaria, disease-carrying rats and rodents, and termites, fire ants and bed bugs.