With over 80,000 species calling Canada’s ecosystems home, biodiversity is critical to a healthy environment and to ensuring healthy human communities.
In our most recent campaign, Vanishing: The Biodiversity Crisis in Canada, the Canadian Conservation Photographers Collective explores five key drivers of biodiversity loss across the country.
Through photographs and videos, expert interviews and research, we hope we have shed light on the biodiversity crisis unfolding across Canada, and on the complex interdependencies among species, habitats, and ourselves.
A key factor contributing to biodiversity loss in Canada are invasive species.
What are invasive species?
Invasive species are non-native species that were introduced to new environments, either intentionally or accidentally, and cause significant harm to the ecosystems they’re introduced to.
What impact do invasive species have on biodiversity?
The vast majority of ecosystems on Earth are currently occupied by foreign, human-introduced species. Invasive species often thrive in their new environments, because they face fewer natural predators, disease, and competition.
Invasive species drive biodiversity loss in many ways.
Competing with native species: Invasive species often outcompete native species for resources - including food, water and habitats.
Predation and herbivory: Sometimes, invasive species prey on native species or feed on native plants, which disrupts existing ecosystems.
Altering ecosystems: Invasive species can destroy or modify habitats, making them unstable or unsuitable for native species.
Spreading disease and parasites: Invasive species can introduce new disease or parasites, which native species may not have resistance to.
Hybridization: Invasive species can interbreed with native species, which can dilute genetic pools and reduce the overall adaptability of native populations.
The presence of invasive species often leads to significant ecological and economic consequences. They contribute to biodiversity loss by causing decline in native species’ populations, altering ecosystems, and even impacting human activities like agriculture, fisheries, and tourism.
What are examples of invasive species in Canada?
The feral wild boar is an invasive species whose population is growing exponentially in Canada, especially in the Prairie provinces. Wild boar spread harmful disease and destroy valuable grassland, wetland, and forest habitat. They also prey upon sensitive birds, small mammals, and invertebrates. Like most invasive species, wild boar reproduce quickly, are highly adaptable, and are extremely difficult to remove from a landscape once they have established populations. Researchers predict that eradication in Canada is no longer possible, and that wild boar may soon outnumber people in the province of Saskatchewan.
Japanese knotweed is an extremely aggressive invasive, bamboo-like shrub that is found throughout Canada. Research has found that knotweed is capable of displacing the majority of native plant species, especially in wetland areas. These plants are able to adjust the local soil chemistry to favour their long-term success and their strong roots even threaten to damage human infrastructure such as foundations.
Domestic and feral cats have tremendous impacts on local bird populations. A bird mortality study found that over 95% of cases were due to collisions with human-made objects and attacks by cats. The numbers are staggering, with over 100 million birds being killed by cats each year in Canada alone. Felines have been found to also be a threat for other native species like butterflies and moths.
What can we do to address invasive species and biodiversity loss?
By learning about invasive species and the other drivers of biodiversity loss we explore in this campaign, we hope individuals are encouraged to think about biodiversity in their own communities, and get involved in addressing the crisis. Tackling invasive species and combatting biodiversity loss across Canada requires a multi-pronged approach.
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