Native vs Non-native invasive species
The term native does have meaning. It means that the plant has been part of an intricate and complex web of animals, plants, pathogens, fungi, bacteria and microorganisms for a very long time – one in which the rules of coexistence have been thoroughly worked out. Such communities are stable, orderly and diverse.
Introduce a novel organism, and you may be asking for problems. The natural controls in its native ecosystem do not exist in this new place. The critters that depend on the indigenous plants are unable to handle the chemical defenses of the new plant and leave it alone. The plant has no predators, nothing sucking its energy and passing that energy up the food chain, as native organisms do.
The energy the new plant captures from the sun goes instead into proliferation, overwhelming indigenous plants and destabilizing the system. It is not just a matter of aesthetic preference.
(Written by Jake Sigg)
