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Invasive
Plants Threaten Landscape
By
Hilda
M. Morrill
 Last week Emily Rooney hosted a segment on invasive plants on her popular WGBH Channel 2 TV show, “Greater Boston.”
One of the most ubiquitous invasive weeds along our highways and wetlands is purple loosestrife—especially visible at this time of the year. It is thought that European settlers, who grew it for medicinal purposes, originally brought the attractive plant to North America in the 1800’s.
According to one of Emily’s guests, Beth Suedmeyer, a biologist with the Massachusetts Wetlands Restoration Program, while purple loosestrife is found all over the US, “… the highest concentrations are in the New England area. The problem with purple loosestrife is that it is a very aggressive plant. It can out-compete native plants by producing millions of seeds per plant.”
She added, "Purple loosestrife can change the chemical properties of water, and it has been shown in studies at Cornell University that the chemicals or the tannins that are produced by the plant can have a negative effect on amphibians."
To most of us, weeds are merely nuisances we try to keep at bay. But what people may not know is that when some weeds spread unchecked, they truly can have devastating and far-reaching effects.
"Invasive weeds are detrimental to our nation's agriculture, water quality, wildlife and recreation," says Jill Schroeder, Ph.D., Professor of Weed Science at New Mexico State University and President of the Weed Science Society of America. "… weeds interfere with the production of our food, cultivation of feed for livestock and crops grown for textile production. Invasive weeds are considered biological pollution and it's a real problem. In fact, the economic impact of weeds in the U.S. has been estimated at a staggering $34.7 billion annually, according to a Cornell University report."
Each year, invasive plants claim another three million acres in the U.S. That's an area about twice the size of Delaware. When they proliferate, they can choke out native plants, forever altering entire habitats as animals lose food, shelter and water to these persistent intruders. Currently, numbers of invasive plants are on the rise as increased land development disturbs previously untouched areas and global trade breaks natural barriers. Projects that focus on eradicating harmful weeds and exotic plants are ongoing through local park districts, state university extension programs and national parks.
Beth Suedmeyer told Emily Rooney about a new approach: an insect about the size of a ladybug with a taste for purple loosestrife. A Galerucella type of beetle from Eurasia, they are being released across Massachusetts in hopes of controlling the loosestrife. In the early 1990s, US Fish & Wildlife determined the bugs were not a threat to other plants. Let’s hope!
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For more information, visit The Weed Science Society of America at
www.wssa.net/ or
www.greaterboston.tv/features/gb_20070905_loosestrife.php. Also refer to “Banned in Boston – Invasives” and “Massachusetts Prohibited Plants” in the “Snippets” section of this Web site. Accompanying image was taken in Sharon, Massachusetts and is © Hilda M. Morrill.
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