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Invasive Species

Invasive Species

But a weed is simply a plant that wants to grow where people want something else. In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit. Weeds are people's idea, not nature's. (Author unknown.)

 

Next to habitat loss, invasive species pose the greatest threat to the survival of native biota in the United States, and many other areas of the world.

 

Invasive species are those plants, animals, and microbes not native to a region that, when introduced either accidentally or intentionally, out-compete native species for available resources, reproduce prolifically, and dominate regions and ecosystems. Because they often arrive in new areas unaccompanied by their native predators, invasive species can be difficult to control. Left unchecked, many invasives have the potential to transform entire ecosystems, as native species and those that depend on them for food, shelter, and habitat disappear.

Sources

Oregon Invasive Species Council. Oregon Invasive Species Council Action Plan 2012–2016. January 2012.

California Native Plant Society. Conservation program: invasive exotics. Sacramento, CS: The Society. 2007.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Protecting Oregon's Native Wildlife and Habitat. Salem, OR, The Department.

Oregon Public Broadcasting. The Silent Invasion.

USDA National Agricultural Library Invasive Species Info Page

State of Oregon - Oregon Invasive Species Council.

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife - Oregon Invasive Species Action Plan.

Compiled by John Ame, Science Writer (2007)

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