• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

The Living on Earth Almanac

Air Date: Week of

This week, fact about....introduced species disasters.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Sixty-three years ago, more than 100 cane toads were shipped from Hawaii to Queensland, Australia. They were supposed to rid the continent of the troublesome sugar cane grub. But like so many introduced species, the toads soon turned the tables. Today, they are the pests, running rampant all over Australia, a result of prolific breeding. Introduced species, or exotics, often wreak havoc on unprepared ecosystems. The Indian mongoose was introduced to Hawaii to cut the rat population there, but ended up eating just about everything else, including several endangered bird species. Islands tend to be most vulnerable to exotics, but even the mainland isn't immune. In the continental US, a third of the animals on the Endangered Species List landed there because of exotics. Sometimes exotics take over so quickly they seem to be natives. In 1877 the Russian thistle was introduced in South Dakota and soon spread throughout the west. Today we know it as the tumbleweed. And for this week, that's the Living on Earth Almanac.

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth