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- Info
Control of non-native plants in natural areas of Florida
| Author: |
Langeland, K.A.; Stocker, R.K. |
| Date: |
2001 |
| Periodical: |
Gainesville, FL: Florida Cooperative Extension Service; SP 242. 34 p |
| Link: |
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/WG209
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| Abstract: |
Non-native plants, carried here by humans since Florida's discovery by Columbus, now threaten the state's remaining natural areas. Of the 4,012 plant species now growing on their own without cultivation in Florida, 29% are non-native (Atlas of Florida Flora, R. P Wunderlin). Many of these non-native plants were originally introduced as garden ornamentals or agricultural crops. Other non-native plants were accidentally introduced. Regardless of how they arrived, these 1,200 or so non-native plants grew so well in Florida that they naturalized, that is, spread on their own without cultivation into managed and natural areas. While some of these naturalized non-native plants are not a problem, many became weeds, or undesirable plants, in agricultural, forestry, yards, and roadways. When these naturalized non-native plants spread extensively into natural areas and dominate by displacing native plants and disrupting natural processes such as fire or water flow, they are called invasive. Invasive non-native plants can be thought of as weeds in natural areas. |
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