What are natives?
Natives are plants that evolved in place over geologic time and are distributed across the landscape largely in response to climatic episodes and adaptation to site conditions related to land formation. Natives are generally defined as plants that occurred in North America before European settlement. This distinction is made because of the large-scale changes in the flora that have resulted since European settlement and the introduction of “exotic” plants. Exotics are plants that are directly or indirectly, deliberately or accidentally introduced by human action. To be more precise, natives are natural elements of a regional landscape. While some species are native to North America, they may be exotic to East Tennessee.
Related Questions
- What factors determine whether divergent hatchery strain lake trout will successfully interbreed with natives in wild populations?
- Ive heard that the natives of South America used stevia as a contraceptive. Does stevia reduce fertility?
- Do immigrants working illegally reduce the natives legal employment?
