[ WP ] You 're a Xenobiologist that has been tasked with tracking and recording the impact of invasive alien species has on Earth habitats .

Department of the Interior, 
 Agricultural Research Division, 
 Office of Interpretation 
 03MAY2016 
 ALCON: 
 This department-wide memorandum has been drafted in order to more readily prepare all divisions for newly scheduled operations directly related to selocrite. The following information is based on today's initial observations made by our team in Olympic National Park. 
 
 Selocrite is a pale, nearly translucent xenotropic material most comparable to white moss. It was first observed on the coast of Washington on 02MAY2016. At this time, we believe selocrite arrived on Earth in the winter of 2015. It was most likely brought via meteor, though we are not sure how it would have been able to survive the temperatures of atmospheric entry. We believe it landed in the northern Pacific Ocean, and floated on the surface until it drifted into the northern west coast of the United States and some parts of southern Canada. Selocrite uses some biological processes found in algae and yeast, failing to indicate to us if this material is either plant or animal. Based on our findings, selocrite probably photosynthesizes oxygen and carbondioxide from the atmosphere and converts it into nitrogen and alcohol. This has had devastating effects on all ecosystems contaminated by selocrite, as it has so far dominated 100 % of plant species it encountered. In the first stages of invasion, selocrite uses a pale-white tendril system to move itself across surfaces while long follicles on top absorb sunlight, oxygen and carbon monoxide from the atmosphere and convert it into nitrogen and alcohol, most of which is released back into the environment around it. In the Pacific Ocean, the released nitrogen has caused unstable eutrophycation; the over-enrichment of algae has caused algae blooms the size of Texas, thus shading huge expanses of ocean, blocking out all sunlight, denying aquatic ecosystem the ability to photosynthesize and produce oxygen, thus suffocating nearly all life above a depth of 700 miles. Dead zones have bloomed into one, and the dead zone now spans from the estimated point of arrival in the Pacific to where it reached land in Neah Bay. 
 
 Upon entry to Neah Bay, selocrite overtook coastal rock and gravel and spread inward from the coast, drawing nutrients out of grass and small shrubs. It is unclear whether or not selocrite also drew nutrients out of the insects and small animals that may have been smothered by its tendrils, which spread over land at a pace of about 2 inches per second and over water at about 1 inch per second. As of this evening, selocrite has completely dominated all earthy terrain from its entry point in Neah to it's current location in Olympic, and it is currently spreading east. While early morning observations had recorded selocrite not holding on to inorganic structures, the tendrils later changed color from pale white to a deep red and latched on to the inorganic surfaces. Inorganic surfaces could be seen silhouetted in deep red among the expanse of milky white. One hour prior to the submission of this memorandum, the entire mass of selocrite began turning from white to red. We are not sure what this means. 
 
 We have opened collaborative efforts with the Department of Defense and will be expediting all operations directly related to selocrite and implementing several new operations this month. Please check your email frequently and answer all incoming calls. You may be requested to work after 6pm. 
 
 -V/R 
 Beatsworkin 
 Chief of Xenobiology, Office of Interpretation 
 
 
 
 
 

