[nafex] Invasive species, slightly off-topic

[Joe and Ellen Hecksel <jhecksel@voyager.net>]

Hi All:


There is a book Alien Invasion by Robert Devine.  The last chapter has a 
list of the characteristics that many invasive plant species share.  The 
author notes that the list is not definitive.  Species can be invasive 
in one ecosystem but be well behaved in others.  Generally, plants are 
more invasive in warmer climates.

The characteristics listed are:
-Seeds germinate with no special pretreatment
-Species can reproduce asexually
-Seeds produced copiously

A few personal observations.
-Invasive species often have wind borne seeds or fruit that birds relish.
-Many native species qualify as invasive (box elder, cottonwood). 
-Invasiveness can mean that new species hybridizes freely with native 
species/strains.
-Many of the features that make a species invasive (robust growth, 
freedom from pests, ease of propagation) make them valuable domestic 
plants.
-Homo sapiens are the most invasive species of all.


-- 
-Joe Hecksel, Homo sapiens living in Zone 5
My personal website: http://my.voyager.net/~jhecksel
February's featured website: 
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/8176/index.html



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