Weekly blog invasive species

http://cisr.ucr.edu/images/eucalyptus_leaf_beetle/01_eucalyptus_leaf_beetle.jpg

Summary:
          An invasive species is a species that lives in a natural area or place and then moves to another and can cause lots of problems. Some of the problems that can come out of an invasive species is a mess up in the food chain and overpopulation because of no or little natural predators. There are lots of invasive species around the world and some of them are plants, snails, insects. The eucalyptus leaf beetle is a beetle that eats eucalyptus leafs and is an invasive species. The eucalyptus leaf beetle is a type of beetle that originally lived in Australia and was introduced to California in 2003 and became an invasive species there.

S&EP: Conducting investigation:
          I got a packet of questions about the forest ecosystem and some of the food chain in the forest. I had to use gizmos to investigate what would happen if you lowered or took away the population of certain things. I also had to find if things were decomposers, producers or if they were consumers. Most plants are producers, most animals are consumers and fungi like mushrooms are decomposers. A producer is an organism that can make its own food, a consumer has to eat other organisms for energy and decomposers break down dead organisms.

XCC: Cause and effect:
        The cause and effect in food chains can be major to if organisms survive. Invasive spices can make a major effect because they can take away a certain food source from another and then there is not enough food. The invasive species can also overpopulate because of not having a natural predator in the food chain. The invasive species can cause other problems to food chains because they are not part of that natural ecosystem so when they enter they can make the food chain get messed up which is not good for the organisms in that food chain. When a invasive species come it can cause a bad effect.