Invasive plants are non-native plants that cause harm to people, the economy, or the environment. They share three common characteristics that enable their aggression, all of which stem from their being non-native species.
Invasive plants…
1) Leaf out earlier in the spring and hold their leaves later in the fall, giving them a competitive advantage for light and other resources.
2) Put more energy into growth than defense, having few predators to keep them in check outside their native range.
3) Use these resource advantages to produce prolific seed, in some cases upwards of thousands or millions of seeds.
ISN has developed three invasive plant lists for the Grand Traverse region. Click below to explore those lists.
Harm to people: Some plants cause harm to people. For example, the sap from wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) causes intense blistering on the skin when exposed to sunlight.
Harm to the economy: Some plants are bad for the economy, increasing costs for our region in terms of crop weed management or by hosting common pests like the soybean aphid. Here in the Grand Traverse region where our economy and ecology directly intertwine, reduced trillium, morel, or leek populations, or reductions in the regional bird populations that native plants support, could negatively impact that “Up North,” “Pure Michigan” allure that has been such a boon for our region’s tourism.
Harm to the environment: Beyond the threat of invasive plants replacing native plant communities, invasive plants don’t support the majority of leaf eating insects, like the caterpillars that turn into our gorgeous butterflies. Those insects in turn provide critical food for many other living things; for example, most songbirds depend on insect feed to survive into adulthood. Instead of evoking the call of the wild, natural areas dominated by invasive plants evoke the call of suburbia, offering about as much chance for wild encounters. Compounding the impacts of habitat loss, invasive species contribute directly to our world’s ongoing extinction crisis.