Env 100 Week 2

Dear City Council of Glimmerville,

The problem being faced in this city is that an invasive species has come into the town. If the invasive species continues to be a problem, it can have some pretty lasting detrimental effects on the aquatic eco system in Gimmerville. Ecosystem balance is defined by various online dictionaries as “a state of dynamic equilibrium within a community of organisms in which genetics, species and ecosystem diversity remain relatively stable, subject to gradual changes through natural succession.” and “A stable balance in the numbers of each species in an ecosystem.” If the natural balance has been or even just gets disturbed, this can cause major issues. One of the issues that could be a reason for the change in natural balance could be the death of some or certain species. Another one of the issues that could be a reason for the natural balance could be some man made causes like by building cities or could be natural hazards like tsunami’s or tornadoes. The problem we are facing in our town is that we have an invasive species coming in and changing the natural balance of our ecosystem. They are doing this by threatening the continuation of bass fish as well as many other native fish we have in our waters. On top of that the chemistry of the soil here is developing and producing erosion. This could be due to invasive plans that are contributing to the erosion of soil and outgrowing native plans. The reason why these carp came was because we had an increase in our vegetation by using an eco-friendlier fertilizer by farmers.

We decided on four different choices we could to fix our problem. One option is exterminating the grass carp.  This would eliminate grass carp but could kill other fish in the water too. Another option is by changing the fertilizer being used. This could have negative effects on the environment as well. Another option is having a fishing tournament. This could reduce the number of Grass carb but there is no guarantee that this could even work. The final option is by bring another foreign species in. This could work on the Grass carp problem but this foreign species could also cause a change in the balance in the system.