ENWC314 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: United States Forest Service, Introduced Species, John Gordon Skellam

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Entomology and Wildlife Conservation
• Course: ENWC314
• Professor: York Joanna

Document Summary

In the news: san francisco bay supports the largest and most important expanses of tidal mudflats and salt marches in the western united states. Many non-native species of plants and animals have been introduced to the bay, and some now threaten to cause fundamental changes in the bay"s tidal areas. One such species is the atlantic salt march cordgrass. This cordgrass is likely to dominate tidal marches, cause the extinction of native tidal march plants, choke tidal creeks by its extensive growth and eliminate thousands of hectares of shorebird habitat. Cordgrass colonization could endanger threatened species that use existing tidal marsh habitats, including the rare california clapper rail and the salt-marsh harvest mouse. Simplest explanation for why a species is not found in a particular area is that is has not been able to reach the area. The movement, or dispersal, of organisms can occur by two mechanisms.