invasive species
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Take a walk around your neighborhood, a county park, or a natural woodland, and the chances are high that you’ll encounter at least one invasive plant species. Invasive plants, insects, and animals are introduced both intentionally and accidentally. When they escape into nature, they become bad actors, causing ecological problems by outcompeting or consuming native…
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Georgia has several problematic invasive plants, but kudzu seems to get the most attention. The vine is highly visible, covering banks, trees, and abandoned houses, whether you’re driving in the country or around town. The spread of kudzu has been an ecological concern in the southeastern U.S. for several decades.
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A walk through our local parks, state forests, and even our own backyard reveals a rich mixture of plants and wildlife. Typically, some will be native species and others are specimens imported from foreign regions. Is one type better than the other? In certain circumstances, both native and introduced species can become invasive. In a…
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A very large, exotic boring beetle, the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB), has been confirmed to be in South Carolina. This is an invasive insect that we don’t want to become established in Georgia. Unlike native boring beetles, ALB attack living trees as well as dead or dying ones. They are especially drawn to maple trees.…
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We’re all familiar with the vista that kudzu creates: a blanket of green consuming trees, fields, and buildings. Similarly, the sight of dense thickets of Chinese privet that squeeze out any other type of undergrowth is common in forests, parks, and neighborhoods. These are poster children for non-native invasive species in the Southeast, but they’re…
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Many of us have started home food gardens or are at least interested in growing food at home. Some food plants grow best when added to the garden as transplants.
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Several factors make invasive plants problematic: They grow in both sun and shade; they reproduce from both roots and seeds; they spread rapidly; and they destroy the natural biodiversity of southeastern U.S. forests by displacing native plants. Japanese honeysuckle occurs more commonly than other non-native invasive plants, but non-native privet has taken over 644,317 acres…
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Chinese privet has held the #1 ranking for worst invasive plant in the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Dirty Dozen list since 2009. In use since the mid-1800’s as hedges and ornamental plantings, the shrub escaped cultivation during the 1930s and had colonized forests across the southeastern U.S. by the 1950s.
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