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A thing I heard somewhere, I think on an episode of the Permaculture Podcast [1], was to stop thinking of it as "invasive" plants. Plants aren't "invading", the

A thing I heard somewhere, I think on an episode of the Permaculture Podcast [1], was to stop thinking of it as "invasive" plants. Plants aren't "invading", they're filling a niche that is under-served. The way to keep those plants from growing is to supplant them with other (potentially native) plants filling the same niche, or modify the environment to fix whatever deficiencies the unwanted plant is gaining it's advantage from. They also tied it into the immigration debate, which I thought was interesting. They mainly played off the fact that the same people who are pro-immigration are often pro-native plants. Is it really the best idea to eradicate species from regions, when we could just learn how to live together more effectively? I feel like I probably did a very poor job reiterating all of that. We've really enjoyed listening to that podcast though. [1] https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/ https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/

jefflombardjr 6y ago
In Beyond the War on Invasive Species By Tao Orion, the author gives facts and numbers to back this up. People are destroying native plant habitats, and creating the perfect conditions for invasives. In fact 90+% of native species aren't threatened by invasives. The invasives actually help heal the soil for native plants. The author then asks, why then is there a war on invasives? And that's where the book gets good imo. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25782048-beyond-the-war-on-invasive-species https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25782048-beyond-the-war-...
- briefcomment 6y ago
  Would you mind expanding on why there is a war on invasives?
  - mobilefriendly 6y ago
    Invasive plants displace native ones; in the mid-Atlantic where I live, Chinese tree of heaven are everywhere. They crowd out walnut and other hardwoods, they aren't as tall and attractive, and the wood isn't clean burning. Our problem is also deer over-population-- the deer devastate the native trees and bushes but not the invasives.
    - joecool1029 6y ago
      >Chinese tree of heaven are everywhere. Ghetto palm also attracts the latest chinese hell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_lanternfly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_lanternfly

jefflombardjr 6y ago

In Beyond the War on Invasive Species By Tao Orion, the author gives facts and numbers to back this up. People are destroying native plant habitats, and creating the perfect conditions for invasives. In fact 90+% of native species aren't threatened by invasives. The invasives actually help heal the soil for native plants. The author then asks, why then is there a war on invasives? And that's where the book gets good imo. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25782048-beyond-the-war-on-invasive-species https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25782048-beyond-the-war-...

briefcomment 6y ago
Would you mind expanding on why there is a war on invasives?
- mobilefriendly 6y ago
  Invasive plants displace native ones; in the mid-Atlantic where I live, Chinese tree of heaven are everywhere. They crowd out walnut and other hardwoods, they aren't as tall and attractive, and the wood isn't clean burning. Our problem is also deer over-population-- the deer devastate the native trees and bushes but not the invasives.
  - joecool1029 6y ago
    >Chinese tree of heaven are everywhere. Ghetto palm also attracts the latest chinese hell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_lanternfly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_lanternfly