Native, endemic, and introduced are terms that describe a plant or animal. Here is a quick overview on what those terms mean and examples of each in New Zealand.
There are thousands of species of plants and animals found throughout the world. Some of them are common in many different places and others can only be found in one spot. Some of them have always been in a certain area and others are new arrivals. Well, the terms native, endemic, and introduced help describe what type of species it is. Here is a quick overview of what these three terms mean and why they’re important to New Zealand.
Native, Endemic, and Introduced – What Do They Mean Exactly?
Native – This is a species that lives in an area naturally. In other words a plant or animal lives and reproduces in an area without any human intervention.
Some native New Zealand species include Silvereye, Morepork, and Fantail.
Endemic – These are the truly special and unique species.
This is a type of native species, but there is more to it than that. These are plants and animals that can’t be found anywhere else in the world!
Some endemic New Zealand species include kereru, tui, and blue duck or whio.
Introduced – These are plants or animals that do not naturally live somewhere but were brought by people. People may have brought them on purpose or they may have accidentally been brought.
These introduced species did not develop with the rest of the ecosystem and may cause serious and irreparable changes to the ecosystem since there are no natural controls on them.
One common introduced species that can now be found throughout much of the world, including New Zealand and the Rocky Mountains, is the Brown Trout. Read why it was introduced to the Rocky Mountains here.
Other New Zealand introduced species include Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Myna, and Blackbird. Some of the more devastating introduced species are rats, stoats, ferrets, and possums.
Native, Endemic, and Introduced – Why Are They Important?
It’s important to understand these terms, especially on islands like New Zealand.
Over a very long period of time, the plants and animals in an ecosystem all fill unique niches and have achieved a kind of balance. The birds, insects, reptiles and plants have all grown over a very long period of time together.
However, once people arrived and began introducing species the natural balance was disrupted. Many of the native and endemic birds in New Zealand evolved in isolation and don’t have defenses to protect them against predators. Thus, introduced predators, such as rats and stoats, have caused many native birds to go extinct and put others on the brink of extinction.
It’s important to understand the terms native, endemic, and introduced so that you know what role that species plays in the environment.
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