Invasive_Species

In the Pacific Northwest, invasive species can be a real problem, one of the big reasons why is because many things are important onto our coastline. One of the invasive species in Oregon are the Mute Swan. The Mute Swan is native to Europe and Asia, and was brought to the Americas between the 1800’s and 1900’s. So, the question is what ways does the mute swan effect our environment, and what can we do to decrease the amount of harm the Mute Swan causes in our wetlands' The Mute Swan is a large white swan with a very unique orange bill with a black border. It has a very different knob on its bill and their largest colonies can have over 100 couples in them. They can become very aggressive, even towards humans. They chase other water birds including loons, and they keep those birds from nesting. They are one of the most aggressive waterfowl in the world, and therefore force native species to nest and feed in insufficient areas reducing the carrying capacity of coastal wetlands for staging and breeding waterfowl. Because of their aggressive nature, Mute Swans also kill many other water birds leaving their nests abandoned and unprotected by predators, causing the quality and quantity of wetland habitats to continue to decline in North America. The Mute Swan has almost no predators, which also helps its incredible population increase. One Mute Swan can uproot 20 pounds of submersed aquatic vegetation daily, thereby reducing important native aquatic plants. They are a huge problem in the great lake states, increasing in population by 10% or 20% annually. Mute Swans are ruining our aquatic life not only in the Pacific Northwest, but even more on the east coast and in the great lake basin, so what is our solution' Although Mute Swans are a partial problem on the west coast, they mainly affect the east coast and the great lake basin. When researching for information on management strategies, all the big articles and interesting information I found were about the birds on the east coast and in the great lakes area, so I will be basing my opinions off this information and suggesting what we may be able to do on the west coast to prevent the quickly growing population of the Mute Swan and the consequence it could have on out environment if we do not act soon. "Rhode Island began a control program of egg addling and pricking in 1979; despite the fact that 9,378 eggs were destroyed in 1,629 nests over a period of 22 years, the population increased by over 500 percent. Vermont, in contrast, reported no Mute Swans in 2000, apparently as a result of a lethal control program. This is supported by the fact that population models indicate that the most effective way to reduce population growth for a long lived species such as the Mute Swan is to reduce adult survival rates. This could be done through capture and removal programs, or through culling. (Petrie)” Culling is the process of removing animals from a group based on specific criteria, done to either reinforce certain desirable characteristics or to remove certain undesirable characteristics from the group. To sum it up the previous states that either capture and removal or culling is the best bet for early prevention. It sounds like the strategies they used in Vermont and Rhode Island seemed to imply that prevention is really the only way. Once Mute Swans get a hold of an environment, there is no going back. They are extremely aggressive and invasive so my opinion on their management strategy for the Pacific Northwest is that we start now and prevent all take over of the Mute Swan. We need to start culling and removing eggs now to keep the population from growing in exponential numbers in the near future. Joe Johnson, director of the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, part of Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station and chairman of the Mississippi Flyway Technical Section Swan Committee, said, “We will suggest that Mute Swan be accepted as an exotic species.” If Mute Swans are accepted and regulated as exotic, then the states “should gain authority over the sale and possession of Mute Swans and their eggs. And Mute Swans captured as a result of citizen complaint should not be returned to the wild.” Joe Johnson, the director of Kellogg Bird Sanctuary suggested that the Mute Swan be accepted as an exotic species therefore the states have opportunity to gain authority and sale over possession of their eggs. Regulating this is also a great way to keep egg numbers to a minimum, and therefore reducing their dangerous population.