First National Invasive Plant Database
Plant Sentry™ Helps Stop the Spread of Invasive Plants
With a threatening accumulation of regional plant problems, groups fighting invasive plant species are increasing across the US. As states spend millions of dollars battling such plants, these groups are attempting to protect the healthy environment. The efforts underway work to suppress the spread of unwanted plants that destroy both landscapes and habitat.
A new group of enthusiastic residents from Hamilton County, Indiana has formed to help control invasives. Specifically those that the Indiana Native Plant and Wildlife Society speculates cost the state more than 5.7 million dollars annually.
Phil Flannagan, a group spokesperson, says, “Invasive species can cause a domino effect that harms ecosystems. Some of the berries invasive plants produce, birds eat them, but it’s like a sugar high. There’s no real nutrition there.”
Flannagan is referring to the laxative effect, which causes wildlife to lose energy, making them more susceptible to poor health and even survival. The laxative effect has been proven to spread the invasive plant problem at a more exponential rate, as well.
According to Flannagan, “I think most people, if they knew what was going on, they would not plant something like that.”
So now we raise the question: how do you know what to plant – or even more importantly – what plant could pose a problem in your area? To answer this question, we must navigate plant shipment regulation.
This can be difficult for both consumers and growers, as plant shipment regulation is so complex. To find out whether a plant can or cannot be shipped to a certain state, loads of information is compiled.
To make things even more challenging, such information must be sorted, maintained, and kept up-to-date. So how we do answer our critical questions efficiently?
Luckily, a solution for the struggle is here. Through Plant Sentry™, the first national database is newly available, and it can be used by growers to help promote shipping the right plant to the right place. Plant Sentry™ utilizes every available tool to stay ahead of regulation, saving growers time and money. This allows them to concentrate on new plant varieties that do not cause problems.
Not only will this solution help nation-wide, but it will assist small groups such as the one in Indiana, allowing them to get a foothold on what invasive plants are present. It will also prevent the wrong plants from being shipped to their state.
Additionally, education and the evaluation of potentially problematic plants will further the goal of protecting the environment and landscape from invasive species. Pre™ Tool , developed by Plant Right® with the help of researches at the University of California-Davis and the University of Washington will also help feed the proactive effort to prevent new regional invasive plant species.
Fortunately, our team at Plant Sentry™ is watching changes in plants that might occur with the assistance of great programs like Pre™ Tool so you do not have to.
Though not widely known, every state battles some type of invasive plant problem. Even more, every state has groups that exhaust efforts to clean up invasive plant problems.
With great optimism, we can say that the upward trend of efforts to eliminate invasive species will only increase over time. If you are a landowner, you may or may not have experienced an invasive plant issue; however, those that have should be excited to know that the proactive movement to stop the spread is growing.
We encourage everyone to support this movement in any way. Together, and with great determination, we can eliminate invasive plant species from our quality landscapes and environment.
References
University of California-Davis
Current in Wesfield-Current Publishing, Carmel Indiana