What are non-native invasive plants?
People have been moving Earth’s plants from place to place for centuries. Many of the exotic plants we have introduced to our landscape by intention or accident have been beneficial to us and have had no unfortunate ecological impacts on natural communities. But a small percentage has spread from where they first became established, and have become serious threats to wetlands, shale barrens, prairies, glades and other rare ecosystems. Invasive plants often get started in areas disturbed by such human activities as road and trail building, timbering, mining, and other tasks that remove native vegetation, disturb the soil, or dramatically change the amount of sunlight or moisture that strikes the land. From such situations, a relatively small number of invasive species have moved into natural areas. These species have reproduced rapidly, forming stands that exclude nearly all other plant species. In the worst cases, they radically altered the ecosystem processes, altered natural areas, a
