Invasive exotic plants pose a serious threat to the natural resources of many national parks. Invasive species can displace native plant species, inhibit the regeneration of native forest trees, degrade habitats for rare species, and alter vegetation community structure and composition. Due to these potentially serious impacts; the status, trends, and early detection of invasive species is currently considered a Tier 1 vital sign for terrestrial ecosystems in the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Inventory and Monitoring Network.
Nonnative plant invaders are causing millions of dollars worth of damage to our natural, managed, and agricultural ecosystems, and their effects can be long-lasting. This fact book is intended to raise awareness of the destruction and economic losses caused by invasive plants in the U.S. Sections include: understanding the problems; plant invasions -- impacts, status, and trends: croplands, yards and gardens, rights-of-way, rangelands and pastures, forests, deserts, wetlands and waterways, Florida, Hawaii, natural areas, parks and refuges, private reserves, wildlife, plant communities, and biodiversity, recreational areas, and human and animal health.
Since the publication of the first edition of this book in 2003, the status of many important invasive plants around the world has changed dramatically. Species have extended their ranges, new literature has been accumulated, and control methods have been improved. Research on some plant invaders has also focused on the species' ecology and impacts, confirming that invasive plants continue to pose serious threats to species and ecosystems. Given their range expansions and introduction via international trade, these problems will only become more serious in the future. Including colour images of each species, this up-to-date reference guide on the most important plant invaders is an invaluable tool for both researchers and policy makers.
Invasions of non-native plants into forests of the Southern United States continue to go unchecked and only partially un-monitored. These infestations increasingly erode forest productivity, hindering forest use and management activities, and degrading diversity and wildlife habitat. Often called non-native, exotic, non-indigenous, alien, or noxious weeds, they occur as trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, ferns, and forbs. This guide provides information on accurate identification of the 56 non-native plants and groups that are currently invading the forests of the 13 Southern States. In additin, it lists other non-native plants of growing concern. Illustrations. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find publication.
In 2007, the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network (ERMN) of the National Park Service (NPS) began monitoring vegetation communities and soil in eight of its nine parks. This monitoring effort is a component of the ERMN Vital Signs monitoring program (Marshall and Piekielek 2007) as part of the nationwide NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program (Fancy et al. 2009).
Isolated wetlands lack permanent stream connections to adjacent bodies of water, and are ecologically important because they can be the most abundant type of wetland in a region, and can harbor unique biological communities. Despite this, isolated wetlands are rarely protected by federal and state legislation, and federal agencies do not assess their abundance when reporting national trends in wetland losses. In this dissertation, I present the results from a field study that illustrates how the presence of small and isolated wetlands is important in maintaining populations of pond-breeding amphibians across the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I found that stream connections at wetlands strongly influenced the occurrence patterns of five out of nine amphibian species studied, and species that bred earlier in the year were the most likely to occur at small and isolated wetlands. I used occurrence patterns at surveyed wetlands to predict the presence of amphibian species across the entire study area, and estimated that two-thirds of all species would lose at least half of their breeding sites if either isolated wetlands or small wetlands (
Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Biology - Botany, grade: 3.6, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (Graduate School), course: Environmental Science, language: English, abstract: Sericea lespedeza is an aggressive invasive plant which can suppress and displace native plant species in grasslands and prairies in the United States. The goal of the study is to determine how large the seed bank of lespedeza might be. Furthermore, the author tries to determine if a pre-emergent herbicide treatment could suppress Lespedeza germination and whether this provided benefits to a typical native species propagated into the site. In the work, the author first characterized the soil seed bank at different invaded sites on SIUE campus using the seedling emergence method. In the second part, the author assessed the success of a pre-emergent herbicide in preventing the germination of lespedeza seed bank after lespedeza removal. The growth of a native grass (Sorghastrum nutans) as a replacement species has also been evaluated. Currently Sericea lespedeza is rapidly spreading throughout the U.S and has been estimated to eventually invade about 61percent of the total land area. Lespedeza has become a successful colonizer because of its ability to tolerate and thrive under a wide range of environmental and soil conditions. Once established, lespedeza is very difficult to remove due to its persistent seed bank which can remain viable for years. To successfully control lespedeza, we must find effective ways to suppress or kill seeds in the soil, but this has received little research attention.
Biological control has long been used against invasive plants and, less often, invasive insects, in forests, aquatic systems, grasslands, coastal areas, riparian areas, islands, and other biomes or habitats of conservation concern. Historically, motivation for such efforts has shifted gradually away from economic interests toward ecological protection for its own sake. Future projects of this type will require better integration of biological control into conservation practice, a better understanding by societies of the reasons for such work and its possible risks and benefits, as well as continued, consistent public funding. Examples of successful projects in high-value conservation areas (Everglades, Gal�pagos, oceanic islands, wetlands, forests) are discussed, and future challenges and caveats mentioned. Environmentalists, nature conservationists, scientists, forestry personnel, USDA employees, and others interested in biological control would be interested in this publication. Additionally, students pursuing coursework, and research for Natural Resource Management degree programs may be interested in this work. Related products: Plants resources collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/plants Major Forest Insect and Disease Conditions in the United States: 2013 is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/major-forest-insect-and-disease-conditions-united-states-2013 Forest Health Monitoring: National Status, Trends, and Analysis 2015 can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/forest-health-monitoring-national-status-trends-and-analysis-2015 Other products produced by the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service are available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/us-forest-service
