Terrestrial invasive species issues
Definition
Invasive species are harmful and undesirable plants, animals, insects or even microbial organisms that arrived at a location (in our case, Hawaii) as a result of human actions, purposeful or not. The word "terrestrial" refers to species that live or grow on land (non-aquatic).
Synonyms for the term "invasive species"
A number of words are used interchangeably:
Pest species (or invasive pest species)
Nuisance species
Weeds (or weedy, usually in reference to plants)
Why should I care about invasive species?
Invasive species affect everyone. Our buildings are eaten by termites, our water supply is at risk because the native forests are at risk, our local-grown fruits and vegetables are attacked by fruit flies and more, our heritage trees like wiliwili are killed by gall wasps, and our reefs are smothering in invasive seaweed. In the future, if we are not vigilant in keeping new pests out, we might find the baby being bitten by brown treesnakes as occurs on Guam, new ants that pack a sting a thousand times worse than our current ants, mosquito bites that can give us debilitating diseases, and perhaps new diseases that attack and kill our ohia or koa trees. We can prevent these new invasive pests and control the worst pests already present if we make it a high priority for our government, and if we participate in initiatives to protect Hawaii from invasive species.
Common questions:
Q: Are all non-native or introduced species also "invasive species"?
A: No. Some plants and animals that are introduced to a new location outside their normal range do not reproduce quickly, spread, or cause harm. Examples of introduced plants that are not invasive include pineapples and plumeria. Some synonyms for "non-native" are alien, introduced, exotic. In Hawaii, we tend to use two other terms for a group of plants brought here by Polynesians: "canoe plants", or "Polynesian introduced" plants. For example, kalo is a non-native plant to Hawaii, it is a Polynesian introduction.
Q: So what's a "native species"?
A: Plants and animals that arrived at a location (Hawaii, for example) without human assistance (via wind, wings, or waves), and their descendants, some of which may have changed over millions of years to look or act quite different from their ancestors. Some examples include Hawaii's honeycreepers, silverswords, happyface spiders, longnosed butterflyfish, and all of our oopu.
More information on selected topics
2005 brown tree snake Technical Committee meeting summary
Summary of Key Points from the brown tree snake Technical Committee Meeting Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii, April 6-8, 2005. Full story 
Brown treesnake fact sheet
The brown treesnake, an invasive species, likely was introduced to the island of Guam as a passive stowaway in a military cargo ship that moved material after World War II (late 1940's or early 1950's). This snake's natural range is portions of Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and northern Australia. Full story
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