Invasive plants, is there any hope for getting the native and natural balance back?

Here in the Northeast(south eastern NY), lots of woods/forests are completely covered with these agressive and destructive invasive plants like bitter sweet, Japanese something something, every where. I can only imagine how the native trees are gasping for air and sunlight under this drowning wave of invasion. Shouldn't the local and federal government do something real about this problem. I mean we are talking about losing the natural flora and eventually fauna for good.

Invasive plants, is there any hope for getting the native and natural balance back?
Millions are spent by agencies nationwide each year to combat the spread of invasives. In California, there is an "A" list of plants that are considered the most problematic. I work in an open space area and helped to all but eradicate castor bean. It's invasive, poisonous and can be used to manufacture ricin. One would think government grants would be available to help land managers get rid of this plant but if there's a program out there, it's not been discovered.



Artichoke thistle, yellow-star thistle, Russian thistle -- efforts to control these and hundreds of other species have definitely gained momentum in the last 15 years. There's a lot of good research being done, and a lot of experts in the field.



Public education to discuss the issues involved in losing native species needs to step it up. This is considered one of the top threats to habitat.
Reply:Regarding the mention of "biological control" of weeds by Rom: I think this option needs to be considered with great caution as comparable experiments have led to a series of environmental disasters in Australia.



For example, cane toads are destroying a lot of native wildlife. Report Abuse
Reply:They do teach this kind of information in school. Myself, I studied Plant Biology in college. My graduating class %26gt;1000 students; my major only had ~15. The bottom line is that the information is being taught, but I'm sorry to say that Botany is not a preferential subject.



Addressing your (?) about native and natural balance, there are efforts in the manual removal of invasive species which is laborous and inefficient. I've read studies done by the USDA on the use of a noxious plants natural enemy to control its spread. It's called biological control.



I agree with you about having local and federal gov't step in and regulate what plants are being released in our environment.



Thanks for your thoughtful question.
Reply:Well, they say they have had some success against Purple Loosestrife. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_loos...
Reply:there's no hope at all
Reply:At last! an intelligent question!





I live in Australia where the same tragic thing is happening. There is a great deal we can do, but it has to be on a mass scale.



For a start, people have to stop planting invasive weeds in their gardens, in reserves, and public parks. This means they have to EDUCATE themselves about the native flora.



They would often find there is a suitable native plant to substitute for the exotic they had planned to cultivate, and that the natives require less water, fertiliser, and insecticide as well.



We also have to pressure governments to take action, such as preventing nurseries/garden centres from selling invasive weeds and profiting from the destruction of native flora.



good on you!!!
Reply:removal of exotic/invasives and planting naturals is the only right way to me. if you just introduce a new species to control the exotic you are just adding to the problem.people must remember thate ventually the disturbance and invasion will work it's way up the ecological chain of life to us humans and it'll be to late to help ourselves. we must stop it now before it's to big of a probelm to fix.
Reply:There is no hope if you think that you will get rid of weeds without getting weed killer.