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Invasive Plants

exotic, non-native, alien, noxious, or non-indigenous, invasive

Plants that become invasive have unique characteristics that give them the ability to thrive and spread aggressively outside their natural ranges.

Produce large numbers of seeds each season
Spread by rhizomes and root fragments
Tolerate many soil types and weather conditions
Spread easily and efficiently, usually by wind, water, or animals
Grow rapidly, allowing them to displace slower growing plants
Spread rampantly when they are free of the natural checks and balances found in their native range

Non-native plants often spread because the insects, diseases, and foraging animals that naturally keep them in check in their native ranges are absent in their new locations. Invasive plants impact native plant and animal communities by displacing native vegetation and disrupting habitats as they become established and spread over time. Disturbed or abandonned lands provide easy places for invasive plants to become established.

Salem Sound Coastwatch, partnering with local land trusts, park and recreation departments and conservation commissions, works to tackle the invasive plant problem within the Salem Sound watershed. Often groups will call us looking for a service day and we organize a plant removal project.

To learn more, there is a wealth of excellent online resources:

The United States National Arboretum

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/invasives.html

Cornell University Ecology and Management of Invasive Plants Program

http://www.invasiveplants.net/

Center for Invasive Species and Ecological Health http://www.invasive.org/

Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States: Identification and Control

http://www.invasive.org/eastern/

Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the Eastern United States

http://wiki.bugwood.org/Archive:BCIPEUS

Some of the bad plants in Salem Sound watershed.

Oriental bittersweet