What are Transplanted Species?

There are a variety of ways that species move across oceans to other lands. Sometimes the results are disastrous. Settlers that crossed the Bering land bridge into the U.S. brought domesticated dogs with them. The Polynesians who settled Hawaii brought rats, lice and fleas with them. Members of an acclimatization society advocate the release of species into new areas. Garden catalogs are filled with non-native plants and pet shops sell non-native fish. Exotic animals are brought into new regions as pets. Pythons have been released into the Florida everglades and have become a huge threat to the swamp’s ecosystem. New species have a better chance of weeding out indigenous species because they left their enemies behind and initially are not vulnerable to predation. The number of Hawaii’s indigenous species has decreased. The total number of species worldwide is also on the decline.