5.10 Invasive and Other Problematic Species and Genes
Beach Vitex is a quickly growing coastal landscape plant tolerant of salt and drought. It can reproduce through seed production (as high as 10,000 to 20,000 seeds per square meter) or broken shoot fragments from established plants that can be washed by storms onto beaches at great distance from each other. It forms dense cover on beach dunes and can inhibit growth of the native species Seabeach Amaranth, which is federally listed as threatened. It can also cover important beach nesting habitat for shorebirds that breed in North Carolina such as the Piping Plover (federally listed as endangered), American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, Common Tern, and Least Tern. Genetically modifed organisms (GMOs), also referred to as novel or synthetic organisms, are those in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur nat- urally by mating and/or natural recombination (OJEU 2001; Jeschke et al. 2013) . Synthetic organ- isms are completely synthesized by humans and are typically built by assembling short DNA sequences to create new genomes (Preston 2008; Deplazes and Huppenbauer 2009; Jeschke et al. 2013) . While it is reported that there are currently no known cases of a synthetic organism becoming established in the wild, GMOs and synthetic organisms can serve as novel hosts for emerging pathogens that can become established (Jeschke et al. 2013) . Less diverse ecosys- tems may be more susceptible to invaders, and likewise, pathogens may be transmitted more readily in ecological communities with reduced diversity (Jeschke et al. 2013) . Another concern related to the development and increased cultivation of GMOs is the potential escape of transgenes into native populations and the potential change to the phenotype of an organism and the efects of transgenes on natural ecosystems (Snow et al. 2005; Stewart et al. 2003; Andow and Zwahlen 2006; van Hengstum 2013) . 5.10.3 SGCN Priority Species Te Taxa Team evaluation considered the level of threat invasive and problematic species and genes represents to SGCN priority species. Table 5.9 provides a list of species for which this threat category is consider very high or high.
SGCN at very high or high threat from invasives and other problematic species and genes
T ABLE 5.9
Threat Level Very High High
Scientifc Name AMPHIBIAN Necturus lewisi
Common Name
Neuse River Waterdog
X
BIRD Charadrius wilsonia Haematopus palliatus Vermivora chrysoptera
Wilson’s Plover
X X
American Oystercatcher Golden-winged Warbler
X
716
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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