Aiexpress – People other than Dorothy and Toto have been known to ride along on passing bad weather.
A map from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that 222 possible non-native species could have spread in Georgia and Florida because of the floods caused by Hurricane Helene in September, which hit Georgia and other southern states hard. The list has 90 species that are thought to be invasive and likely to spread through floodwaters.
Mike Worley, head of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, said that these animals that don’t belong could be a problem for everyone in Georgia. The Wicked Witch of the East was hurt by the famous Kansas duo’s trip to the magical land of Oz.
“These plants or animals come into an area and are uniquely adapted to the area where they evolved. They will also usually have their own set of predators that keep an eye on their population, but when they come into a new area—and all of these invasive species are here because we brought them here, whether on purpose or by accident—they find a new niche in the world where there are no checks on them,” he said.
If there aren’t any checks, invasive species can wipe out local species, which can mess up the whole food chain.
So alien species are a problem if you live in Georgia because you like it. They can change it in big ways. “They can change the nature of things so much that they change the very core of who we are,” Worley said.
The USGS’s map shows species that are being watched, such as plants, algae, fish, reptiles, and crabs. The study makes an interactive map that shows where different species have been seen before and where flooding from Hurricane Helene may have brought them to the surface.
The Cuban treefrog is on the list. It is native to the island nation but has spread to Florida, Georgia, and other places in the mainland U.S., usually by being hidden in building materials or food or plants that were shipped there.
These slimy little guys may look cute, but they can cause a lot of problems. The USGS says that they not only compete with and even eat native treefrogs, but they also carry diseases and parasites that can hurt people and other frogs. Their skin releases a chemical that can irritate the skin and eyes, and they have been seen to knock out power when they touch electrical equipment.
The USGS map shows that they could spread through floods in the north and south parts of metro Atlanta, as well as near Augusta, Peachtree City, Valdosta, and Waycross.
Being plants, they can cause trouble if they end up in the wrong place. Alligator weed is native to the area around the Parana River in South America. It grows in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. Its thin stems help it float on the water in thick mats. Researchers think that they have set up homes in the southeast and all along the Gulf of Mexico by hiding in ship waste water.
When groups of alligator weed appear out of the blue, they can block the flow of water, which lowers the quality of the water and hurts animals that live in or depend on the water for food. They can be a problem for boaters because they block waterways and for farmers because they block irrigation canals. To make matters worse, they are great places for pests like mosquitos to lay their eggs.
Even worse, a new plant can grow from a piece of an old one that has been cut off. This makes getting rid of them even harder once they are established.
The meanie greenies were already in rivers from Athens to Valdosta before the storm. Researchers think they might be moving to new bodies of water.
Though a great master is the only one who can change the weather, Worley said that Georgians can take steps to keep animals where they belong. That could mean that campers can’t bring firewood from other states, boaters have to clean out their systems before moving on to the next lake or stream, and gardeners can only put native plants in their yard.
Source: Hurricanes Helene, Milton expanded reach of invasive species into Georgia
