As per the Nature Conservancy study the marine invasive species damage waters and land that native species and plants rely on to survive. The government is ready to spend big amount in order to subdue them. The study cites a good example of Floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides) a native of North America which was brought to Britain in the 1980s as a garden pond plant but which quickly spread to the wild. It chokes rivers and streams depriving water creatures and plants of essential oxygen and light. It is found that the stems of pennywort can grow up to 20 cm in a day thus creating a thick layer of vegetation up to 15 m from the bank in one season.
These marine species are causing great casualty to the native creatures on waterways such as the American mink, American crayfish, and the zebra mussel from the Caspian Sea. According to the study these aquatic invaders affected nearly 84 percent of the world’s coasts and it is increasing.
Stephanie Meeks, acting president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, told that the healthy oceans and coasts are need for everyone for survival. These are causing excessive damage to the economy. He expressed, “By understanding the scale and scope of these invaders, we are better equipped to stop them.”
Jennifer Molnar, conservation scientist at The Nature Conservancy and lead author of the study, informed that the each day thousands of vessels cross world’s oceans with invasive species hitchhiking on their hulls. And this brings as many as 10,000 species at one time. And this should be stopped at first place, says Molnar.
