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I heard tumbleweeds are an invasive species. Wikipedia seems to confirm: "Kali tragus [...] is an annual plant that breaks off at the stem base when it dies, a

I heard tumbleweeds are an invasive species. Wikipedia seems to confirm: "Kali tragus [...] is an annual plant that breaks off at the stem base when it dies, and forms a tumbleweed, dispersing its seeds as the wind rolls it along. It is said to have arrived in the United States in shipments of flax seeds to South Dakota, perhaps about 1870. It now is a noxious weed throughout North America, dominating disturbed habitats such as roadsides, cultivated fields, eroded slopes, and arid regions with sparse vegetation." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbleweed#Plants_that_form_tumbleweeds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbleweed#Plants_that_form_tu... These are the western equivalent of Kudzu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu_in_the_United_States I wonder if there any species from the Americas that are invasive to Europe/Africa/Asia... ?

Scarblac 7y ago
In the Netherlands at least, an American species of freshwater crayfish has almost completely replaced the native species and its ecosystem is unprepared for it. And grey squirrels in the UK, of course. There must be more.
- swarnie_ 7y ago
  Similar situation in the UK, we used to haul crayfish out of our sailing lake each year by the boatload.
- smackay 7y ago
  American freshwater crayfish infest all the rice fields here in Portugal. They cause a lot of damage to irrigation and drainage ditches but the number of things that eat them is enormous. It's probably the major reason White Storks here no longer migrate to Africa in the winter. At Vila Franca de Xira, near Lisboa, when the rice is harvested in October, you can see hundreds of thousands of ibis, herons, gulls, flamingos, egrets, spoonbills, storks, waders and everything else you can think of eating crayfish of all sizes.
- rascul 7y ago
  Mud bugs and squirrels can make good meals, so there's an appetizing way of fighting back.
alexott 7y ago
For example, Racoons: https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-overrun-by-raccoon-invasion-a-847847.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-overrun...
- LockAndLol 7y ago
  > Some residents fight back with steel traps or poisonous gas. Some even eat the comical pests, which are said to taste best marinated with celeriac and onions. That's a nice "fuck you" to racoons . Free food.
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    I wonder where on the social ladder does eating 'coon fall over there? Is it somewhat up there like most things hunting/fishing related are? (because hunting/fishing/trapping your own meat was generally something the landed gentry did for recreation) I really hope it's not in the bottom half just because of how uncomfortable that would make certain Americans.
    - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
      To clarify my point, I'm hoping it's not considered low class to eat racoon in Europe
    - wahern 7y ago
      I don't think any American hunting and eating raccoon harbors delusions about the social status of such activities, even in places where it's relatively popular. If anything, it being looked down upon is a point of pride. That said, I would imagine that raccoons carry a very high parasitic load on account of their omnivorous diet and the places they tend to poke around. I wouldn't hesitate to eat squirrel if offered (I may have even eaten it before for all I can remember), but I'd definitely pass on raccoon meat. (Feel free to correct me, though, about the safety of either squirrel or raccoon meat.)
      - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
seszett 7y ago
Argentine ants are well known for having colonised Europe and largely eradicated the local species of ants. Phylloxera almost killed the French wine industry when it arrived in Europe. American turtles (called "Florida turtles" in French, not sure of their English name) and nutria are also invasive species in Europe, but those were initially introduced on purpose.
- cmrdporcupine 7y ago
  Not just phylloxera but the various fungi species that create powdery and downy mildew, among other illnesses for which Vitis vinifera has no natural resistance. And therefore Europeans must now spray fungicides at a level they never had to before. North America is the centre of diversity and likely origin of the vitis genus, and so has evolved pest resistance that the isolated Eurasian vitis vinifera/sylvestris has not.
- irrational 7y ago
  Well, that's fascinating. I had no idea the French had the equivalent of french fries, french toast, french beans, french dip, french onion soup, french onion dip, french silk pie, and other stuff that has "french" in the name but probably has no real relationship to France.
  - reaperducer 7y ago
    Along those lines, "Philadelphia" cream cheese was invented in Goshen, New York. The city name was used because at the time, "Philadelphia" was synonymous with "quality." You run into a lot of this kind of thing if you're in to word origins.
  - avip 7y ago
    A known crowd-pleaser in this field is the "Jerusalem Artichoke"[0] which has nothing to with any of the words. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke
    - jessaustin 7y ago
DanBC 7y ago
Ruddy Ducks. https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/71368 https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/71368 Water Primrose. https://www.ada.org.uk/2018/09/invasive-species-alert-water-primrose/ https://www.ada.org.uk/2018/09/invasive-species-alert-water-... Northern Willow Herb. https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/114114 https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/114114
cam_l 7y ago
...Australia? We have cane toads. Lots of cane toads. We used to have cane toad drives when I was a kid to stop the spread south. We would fill up wheelie bins full of them and freeze them. Must people just used cricket bats. In the end we lost. There were just too many of them. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  No surprise when you kill off the weak, dumb and slow ones.
exhilaration 7y ago
Another example: late blight, the mold that attacks tomatoes, potatoes, and a few other plants originated in the Americas and "was a major culprit in the 1840s European, the 1845 Irish, and the 1846 Highland potato famines", according to Wikipedia. Side note: tomatoes and potatoes also originated in the Americas so it's only natural that their associated diseases came from the same region.

Scarblac 7y ago

In the Netherlands at least, an American species of freshwater crayfish has almost completely replaced the native species and its ecosystem is unprepared for it. And grey squirrels in the UK, of course. There must be more.

swarnie_ 7y ago
Similar situation in the UK, we used to haul crayfish out of our sailing lake each year by the boatload.
smackay 7y ago
American freshwater crayfish infest all the rice fields here in Portugal. They cause a lot of damage to irrigation and drainage ditches but the number of things that eat them is enormous. It's probably the major reason White Storks here no longer migrate to Africa in the winter. At Vila Franca de Xira, near Lisboa, when the rice is harvested in October, you can see hundreds of thousands of ibis, herons, gulls, flamingos, egrets, spoonbills, storks, waders and everything else you can think of eating crayfish of all sizes.
rascul 7y ago
Mud bugs and squirrels can make good meals, so there's an appetizing way of fighting back.

alexott 7y ago

For example, Racoons: https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-overrun-by-raccoon-invasion-a-847847.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-overrun...

LockAndLol 7y ago
> Some residents fight back with steel traps or poisonous gas. Some even eat the comical pests, which are said to taste best marinated with celeriac and onions. That's a nice "fuck you" to racoons . Free food.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  I wonder where on the social ladder does eating 'coon fall over there? Is it somewhat up there like most things hunting/fishing related are? (because hunting/fishing/trapping your own meat was generally something the landed gentry did for recreation) I really hope it's not in the bottom half just because of how uncomfortable that would make certain Americans.
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    To clarify my point, I'm hoping it's not considered low class to eat racoon in Europe
  - wahern 7y ago
    I don't think any American hunting and eating raccoon harbors delusions about the social status of such activities, even in places where it's relatively popular. If anything, it being looked down upon is a point of pride. That said, I would imagine that raccoons carry a very high parasitic load on account of their omnivorous diet and the places they tend to poke around. I wouldn't hesitate to eat squirrel if offered (I may have even eaten it before for all I can remember), but I'd definitely pass on raccoon meat. (Feel free to correct me, though, about the safety of either squirrel or raccoon meat.)
    - dsfyu404ed 7y ago

seszett 7y ago

Argentine ants are well known for having colonised Europe and largely eradicated the local species of ants. Phylloxera almost killed the French wine industry when it arrived in Europe. American turtles (called "Florida turtles" in French, not sure of their English name) and nutria are also invasive species in Europe, but those were initially introduced on purpose.

cmrdporcupine 7y ago
Not just phylloxera but the various fungi species that create powdery and downy mildew, among other illnesses for which Vitis vinifera has no natural resistance. And therefore Europeans must now spray fungicides at a level they never had to before. North America is the centre of diversity and likely origin of the vitis genus, and so has evolved pest resistance that the isolated Eurasian vitis vinifera/sylvestris has not.
irrational 7y ago
Well, that's fascinating. I had no idea the French had the equivalent of french fries, french toast, french beans, french dip, french onion soup, french onion dip, french silk pie, and other stuff that has "french" in the name but probably has no real relationship to France.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  Along those lines, "Philadelphia" cream cheese was invented in Goshen, New York. The city name was used because at the time, "Philadelphia" was synonymous with "quality." You run into a lot of this kind of thing if you're in to word origins.
- avip 7y ago
  A known crowd-pleaser in this field is the "Jerusalem Artichoke"[0] which has nothing to with any of the words. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke
  - jessaustin 7y ago

DanBC 7y ago

Ruddy Ducks. https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/71368 https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/71368 Water Primrose. https://www.ada.org.uk/2018/09/invasive-species-alert-water-primrose/ https://www.ada.org.uk/2018/09/invasive-species-alert-water-... Northern Willow Herb. https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/114114 https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/114114

cam_l 7y ago

...Australia? We have cane toads. Lots of cane toads. We used to have cane toad drives when I was a kid to stop the spread south. We would fill up wheelie bins full of them and freeze them. Must people just used cricket bats. In the end we lost. There were just too many of them. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia

Scoundreller 7y ago
No surprise when you kill off the weak, dumb and slow ones.

exhilaration 7y ago

Another example: late blight, the mold that attacks tomatoes, potatoes, and a few other plants originated in the Americas and "was a major culprit in the 1840s European, the 1845 Irish, and the 1846 Highland potato famines", according to Wikipedia. Side note: tomatoes and potatoes also originated in the Americas so it's only natural that their associated diseases came from the same region.