Tuesday, November 17, 2009

KC3 Thesis Statement

Topic : Invasive Alien Species
Suptopic : Invasive alien insects

Thesis :

"Invasive alien insects is a problem in Hawaii because they damage some vegetation, harm some animals, and disturb Hawaii's natural environment. "

Friday, November 13, 2009

KC3 critique draft

Invasive alien insects is a problem in Hawaii because they damage some vegetation, harm some animals, and disturb Hawaii's natural environment. However, there are some invasive insects that are harmless and are becoming rare to find in Hawaii, like the Hawaiian flightless weevil. Fire ants and fruit flies are non-native to Hawaii. They arrived through a shipment of native plants in the island of Kauai around 1999. The yellow faced bee, an important pollinator to Hawaii, are native to Hawaii and becoming increasingly rare. The yellow faced bee was found in 1900 near a coastal area on one of Oahu's offshore islets.

Hawaii's environment, plants, and animals are slowly being affected by these invasive insects. For example, the Big headed ant and Fire ants are attacking birds like the seabird chick. In addition these insects are eating the native plants and killing other native insects.
In Hawaii, the ripening fruits and vegetables are slowly being spoiled or infected by the fruit flies. The Fruit fly pumps her eggs into the fruit, when the eggs hatch the fruit becomes spoiled, making it a big disgusting mess.
However, the Hawaiian flightless weevil and the Yellow faced bee are just two of the invasive insects in Hawaii that are becoming hard to find. They are becoming rare due to habitat loss or destruction and the presence of alien ants and other insects. The Yellow faced bee is an important pollinator in Oahu's offshore islets. If there are a loss of the remaining yellow faced bees it well affect the native plants that depend on it for pollination.

ARS researchers created a integrated pest management program to target these troublesome Fruit flies. The goal of this program is to give Hawaii's farmers science based and environmental strategies for reducing crop losses. The researchers believe this will stop the fruit fly problem in Hawaii and will be practical and affordable.
However, the Big headed ant and the Fire ant doesn't have a program stopping the damage they are doing to Hawaii's environment, but there are some people trying to stop them from spreading to other areas. They are being studied to see if they can be effectively eradicated from offshore islets. For example, the Nature Conservancy Partners and scientist are one of the many people trying to stop these ants.
Invasive alien insects are slowly damaging Hawaii's environment. Also, they are becoming increasingly rare. In addition, more programs should be made to help out to protect our environment and the invasive insects that live in Hawaii.

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