What are some species that you think will become invasive in the near future?
I just got back from Europe and during the night I would see literally hundreds of giant slugs crawling around in the grass. These were Spanish slugs and they are now found in Mexico and Canada but not the United States. I’m surprised that with all the other introduced slug species we have here they aren’t one of them, but it’s only a matter of time before they show up.
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Spanish slugs actually form a species complex with other lookalike species so determining invasive ranges from photos alone is difficult/impossible. This is actually fairly common with invasive invertebrates, especially those that are woefully understudied (like mollusks).
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There will be many such species. I would not focus too much on insects, plants, but rather raise the alarm about the appearance of very dangerous (invasive in their own specific way) groups of microorganisms. I do not mean mainly bacteria, but rather very dangerous microscopic fungi - and various groups of pathogenic molds - so very dangerous to animals, people and agricultural crops.
We have lost most White Ash (Fraxinus americana) to Emerald Ash Beetles in the last 10-15 years. Butternut, Juglans cinerea, has gone from most of the area due to Butternut canker. This disease first entered the United States around the beginning of the 20th century, when it arrived on imported nursery stock of Japanese walnut. Areas that had Butternut trees in central Maryland in the 1970s have now lost them. These are important forest trees that have disappeared in a relatively short time.
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I recently read about Hammerhead Worms, a new (to me anyway) invasive in the US. They secrete a neurotoxin, kill plants, eat other earthworms (and eachother), and can grow back as two seperate worms if cut in half. Seriously, what kind of demon creature is this?
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/nation-world/hammerhead-worms-pose-a-threat-to-earthworms/507-a7fcdaf4-61e4-4d30-a5bc-d04d5b8dc720
yes, it is completely true, such situations are reported from all over the world in terrestrial, aquatic, dry, wet ecosystems, in agrocenoses, it is a pity that the topic is unfortunately rather trivialized
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