Speaking about invasive species, we usually mean those plants or animals that have spread to areas that do not belong to their essential habitat. Due to this fact, invasive species often pose a threat to the biological diversity of different areas. As for invasive species that are present in Florida, it is necessary to list walking catfish, rock python, and water hyacinth. As for another term, endemic species, it denotes plants and animals that can live only in the area that is restricted. As for the examples of endemic species from different parts of the world, there are Nicobar pigeon and the golden monkey. Endemic species such as pine acacia are presented in Florida as well.
As is clear from the article that we were supposed to read, more and more representatives of influential countries start protecting wildlife. The governments are trying to redress threats against endemic species killing or removing invasive species. Nevertheless, people in many countries have refused to kill unwanted species recently, and it can be called an important challenge for the governments. More than that, eradication of unwanted species often costs a lot of money; nowadays, governments use preventive measures to address the challenge – they create huge protected areas and ban the import of certain plants and animals. Therefore, the risk is mitigated.
African predators such as lions need to be provided with a lot of resources to survive. For instance, adult animal units need to eat more than 5 kilograms of meat every day. To support these animals, it is necessary to provide each unit with enough land and water – the proper size should be calculated based on the presence of other species that may have a positive or negative influence on the population of lions. The pressures threatening this organism’s habitat include uncontrolled multiplication of hyenas or crocodiles (Haywarda, O’Brien, & Kerley, 2007). More than that, a lot of lions die because of increased activity of hunters. International trade and political regulations play an important role in protecting this organism because the latter can prevent actions that may do harm to the population of lions. There are a lot of measures that are supposed to be implemented in the nearest future whereas lion hunting has already been prohibited.
Another important question that needs to be addressed is the number of resources needed in order to preserve certain animal and plant species. As is clear from the results of a study conducted by specialists from Montgomery Botanical Centre, conservation is an extremely important activity when it comes to threatened species (Griffith & Husby, 2010). In fact, maintaining the collection of plants remains a task that requires concerted efforts of many professionals and material resources. As for the benefits of preserving the collection of plants, it needs to be said that it allows preventing many useful species from extinction and, therefore, contribute to a more positive ecological situation. The specialists related to this field often use the notion “conservation success” that tends to be measured based on the effectiveness of the process. Nevertheless, it happens that certain plants that have been recently added to the collection give only diminishing returns due to growing genic capture. The collection size and the efficiency of its management are strictly interconnected as the unit cost tends to decrease and then increase in case if the collection is extended. In the end, it is the most valuable to preserve plants when genetic information is already presented.
References
Griffith, P., & Husby, C. (2010). The price of conservation: Measuring the mission and its cost.
Haywarda, M. W., O’Brien J., & Kerley, G. I. H. (2007). Carrying capacity of large African predators: Predictions and tests. Biological Conservation, 139(1), 219–229.