Because of their ability to spread rapidly using vectors, invasive species may represent a serious threat to agriculture, forest, parks, urban areas, and human health.
Unwelcome plants, animals, or disease-causing microorganisms may hitchhike to a new location as a "passenger" on a boat, train, airplane, or automobile. A strange seed may come loose from a car tire tread, bounce off a train, or be eaten by a bird and deposited somewhere else.
Because of the rapid expansion of world trade, the number of opportunities for accidental introductions of exotic species is greater than ever. Every ship coming into port, every plane landing, and every truck crossing a border is a potential vector for invasive species.
This video looks at just for different exotic organisms that have become invasive in the Northeast: the Asian longhorned beetle, purple loosestrife, plum pox virus, and zebra mussels. They illustrate problems we might face with other invasive insects, plants, diseases, and aquatic animal life.
