Invasive species: Implications for industrial cooling water systems

Abstract

Non-indigenous organisms can get introduced to new areas by human activities, lifting the barriers for dispersal from other biogeographic areas. When these species arrive, they may die if the conditions are not good for survival. However, if the conditions match with their requirements, for example, with respect to habitat and climate, they can survive, establish, and reproduce. Subsequently, when their populations flourish and disperse fast, we speak of species invasion. Such species interact with native species and flourish at the expense of the local native populations. They can affect the new habitat environmentally, ecologically, and economically.