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Invasive plants and animals are a very serious threat to conservation in North Carolina. They are spreading rapidly and endangering our native species and natural communities.
Why does The Nature Conservancy care about non-native invasive species? And why should you?
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Invasive species are the #2 threat to imperiled and endangered plants and animals. (On islands, they are the primary threat.)
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On their home turf, plant and animal populations are kept in check by natural controls such as predators and food supply. But when a new species is introduced into a landscape, either accidentally or intentionally, the consequences can be devasting.
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Invasive plants and animals sometimes spread unchecked, disrupting natural cycles, crowding out native species and costing billions in property damage and lost economic property.
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Invasive species cost an estimated $137 billion annually in losses to agriculture, forestry, fisheries and the maintenance of open waterways in the United States alone.
How Can You Help?
Six simple things you can do to help stop the spread of invasives and keep our natural communities natural:
1. Go native! The next time you think about sprucing up your yard or garden, make a commitment to plant only native plants! Verify that the plants you are buying for your yard or garden are not invasive. Replace invasive plants in your garden with non-invasive alternatives. Ask your local nursery staff for help in identifying invasive plants.
2. When boating, clean your boat thoroughly before transporting it to a different body of water.
3. Clean your boots before you hike in a new area to get rid of hitchhiking weed seeds and pathogens.
4. Don't "pack a pest" when traveling. Fruits and vegetables, plants, insects and animals can carry pests or become invasive themselves.
5. Don't release aquarium fish and plants, live bait or other exotic animals into the wild.
6. Volunteer at your local park, refuge or other wildlife area to help remove invasive species. Help educate others about the threat. Become a weeds warrior!
Invasive Species in North Carolina
Some of the most problematic invasive species of plants and animals in North Carolina are:
Alligator Weed - Alternantherea philoxeroides
Asian Clam - Corbicula fluminea
Chinaberry - Melia azedarach
Chinese Privet - Ligustrum sinese
Common Reed - Phragmites australis
Fire Ant - Solenopsis invicta buren
Giant Salvinia - Salvinia molesta
Grass Carp - Ctenopharyngodon idella
Gypsy Moth - Lymantria dispar
Japanese Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica
Japanese Knotweed - Polygonum cuspidatum
Japanese Stiltgrass - Microstegium viminieum
Kudzu - Pueraria montana var. lobata
Multiflora Rose - Rosa multiflora
Nutria - Myocastor coypus
Oriental Bittersweet - Celastrus orbiculatus
Princess Tree - Paulownia tomentosa
Tree of Heaven - Ailanthus altissima
Wisteria - Wisteria sinensis
To Learn More
Or contact Beth Bockoven for more information.
Images (top to bottom): John Randall and Plant Conservation Alliance |
