For the Love Of Nature, Art and Bad Humor
A Comic Gallery of Creative Expression in the Pursuit of Knowledge
Problem # 3
Loss of Habitat & Invasive Species
As urban development around the Wekiva River expands,
wildlife is left with fewer natural spaces to inhabit. Their once-spacious natural habitats are now chopped up by neighborhoods, roads, strip malls, and Walmarts.
What’s left are scattered pockets of wilderness, like nature’s
version of studio apartments, but miles apart from each other.
This isolation can lead to genetic problems from inbreeding,
or in some cases, no breeding at all.
As if the Wekiva River didn’t have enough problems, now it’s being invaded too. A whole new cast of invasive plant and animal invaders has moved in, loving the subtropical climate and acting like they own the place. Native species, already stressed from shrinking habitats, pollution, and low water levels, are now getting pushed around by these aggressive newcomers.
On the plant front, it’s like a botanical version of Hoarders.
Wild taro, water hyacinth, hydrilla, primrose willow, torpedo grass, elephant grass, and paragrass are crowding the waterways, guzzling nutrients and turning the river into an all-you-can-grow buffet.
But nobody eats the new plants on the block. They are the Real Invasive Plants of Seminole County -throwing shade, stealing nutrients, and stirring up drama.
Water hyacinth. It’s pretty!..Bad. It has the highest growth rate of any known plant. It spreads across the water like a leafy blanket, blocking sunlight from submersed native plants below. It sucks up oxygen, drops piles of rotting mush to the bottom, becomes a 5-star hotel for mosquitoes, and kicks biodiversity to the curb.
And that’s just one of many problem plants.
Meanwhile, in the fish world, it’s no better. Blue tilapia, brown hoplo, sailfin catfish, walking catfish, and chanchitas are swimming in like they’re the new landlords, leaving native fish struggling to keep up.
It’s the Aquatic Hunger Games and the locals are losing.
Sailfin catfish. (Plecos) are easy to spot. They’re everywhere!
Originally from the Amazon, they’ve made themselves at home in Florida’s freshwater and they're trouble. These fish burrow into shorelines to lay thousands of eggs, which can cause erosion. In the winter, they latch onto manatees resting
in the springs to suck on the algae growing on their skin. While it doesn’t hurt
the manatees, it can cause stress as they try to shake them off, burning energy when they're supposed to be conserving. On top of that, they outcompete native
fish for resources, throwing off the whole food chain. They suck. Literally.
And that’s just one of many problem fish.