Invasive Plants

Those of us who care deeply about native plants and habitats understand how important they are to our sense of place. But even as we are working to protect our plant heritage from land development and other pressures, native flora across the country – in our backyards, along our roadways, on our farms and ranches, in our parks and natural areas – are facing a less obvious but equally serious threat from non-native invasive plants. Here are just a few of the problems caused by Invasive species:
  • After habitat destruction, invasive species are the second greatest threat to biodiversity. Invasives threaten the survival of native plants and animals, interfere with ecosystem functions, and hybridize with native species resulting in negative genetic impacts.
  • Invasive species impede industry, threaten agriculture, endanger human health, and are becoming increasingly harder to control as a result of rapid global commercialization and human travel.
  • Invasive species are a significant threat to almost half of the native species currently listed as federally endangered.
  • The costs to prevent, monitor and control invasive species combined with the costs to crop damage, fisheries, forests, and other resources cost the U.S. $137 billion annually.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center takes a multi-pronged approach to addressing the harm caused by invasive plants, combining public outreach, research, monitoring, and the appropriate control and eradication of invasive plants.

The Pulling Together Initiative

In partnership with state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, the nursery industry, and other stakeholders, the Wildflower Center is helping to organize a statewide effort to address the issue of invasive plants and pests. The goals of this Pulling Together Initiative are to facilitate communication among the state's invasive species stakeholders; develop a coordinated response to address invasive species issues on a statewide level; provide a venue for sharing information about key invasive species strategies; and raise public awareness of the problems posed by invasive species in Texas. The Wildflower Center has hosted two statewide conferences on invasive species and has created an informational website to disseminate educational, geospatial, and biological invasive plant information within Texas. For more information on the Pulling Together Initiative, visit www.texasinvasives.org.

INVADERS OF TEXAS: Citizen Scientists Combat Invasive Species

The Wildflower Center has joined with the Texas Forest Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Master Naturalists , Houston Advanced Research Center and others to recruit volunteers who detect and report invasive species in their communities. The Invaders of Texas program provides training and materials to volunteers who find, track, describe and photograph invasive species and report occurrences to a centralized database on the texasinvasives.org website. The anticipated outcomes of this citizen scientist program include a statewide network of volunteers contributing to our knowledge of the distribution of invasive species in Texas andincreased public awareness of the dangers imposed by invasive species and what steps citizens can take when they encounter them; and reduced spread of invasive species through more timely control and eradication

Texas Invasive Plant & Pest Council (TIPPC)

Stakeholders from state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, academia, green industry and the public sector had long discussed the need for one unified body to address the threat of invasive species in Texas. On June 2, 2008, the Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Council (TIPPC) became formally established in the State of Texas. TIPPC originated as a motion from the floor at the second statewide Invasive Plant Conference held at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas in November 2007. On Friday, April 18, 2008, members of the steering committee established at that conference signed the bylaws creating the very first Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Council. The objectives of TIPPC are to promote understanding and awareness of invasive plant and pest impacts in Texas; provide a forum for the exchange of scientific, educational and technical information; and support research and restoration activities that reduce impacts of invasive plants and pests in Texas.

Be PlantWise: A Partnership for Conservation

Be PlantWise is a partnership between the National Park Service, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The Garden Club of America, and the National Invasive Species Council to educate the public and communities about best management practices to prevent harmful invasive plants from invading parklands and natural areas. Education is a critical mechanism for changing behaviors and creating an environment where citizens understand their responsibility for managing plants in their homes and communities. Invasive plant management, like litter control or fire proofing homes is an issue that can influenced greatly by the public. The PlantWise website (www.beplantwise.org) has dowloadable brochures, posters and bookmarks outlining the problem of invasive species with helpful tips how homeowners can prevent introductions of invasives, manage their landscapes in the presence of introduced species, and use native plants or non-invasive plants as an alternatives.

Native Alternatives for Invasive Plants

Ready to replace your invasive landscape plants but not sure which plants make good alternatives? The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has generously provided the Wildflower Center with data deriverd Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants by C. Colston Burrell. Try out our Invasive to Native Translator to find native alternatives for common invasive plants,

Invasive Species Research

The Wildflower Center’s invasive species research program encompasses many aspects of invasive plant biology and ecology. including the management of specific invasive species. Wildflower Center ecologists have determined that summer seasonal fires can eliminate invasive, non-native King Ranch bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum) while leaving native plants, flora and foliage intact. The Center has also found that some invasive species like bastard cabbage (Rapistrum rugosum) can be “out invaded” by over sowing with aggressive native seed mixes. More recently, the Wildflower Center has been conducting re-vegetation studies along roadsides to make recommendations about native seed mixes to roadside managers across the southwest to control invasive species, which can spread rapidly using the nation’s highways as vectors.

Collaboration

To give additional strength to our efforts in the invasive species arena, the Wildflower Center actively collaborates with municipalities, state and federal agencies, non-government organizations, and public entities on its initiatives. The Wildflower Center is a member of the National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species (NECIS), Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA), and Center for Plant Conservation (CPC).