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Invasive Species are All Around Us
Unfortunately, it is true. “Invasive species are all around us.” The number of tree of heavens (ailanthus altissima) I see on my way through town is hard to count. Heck, I know some were growing right outside some of the buildings on the fairgrounds before the county fair. You’re not a bad person if you have invasive species in your landscape, either. Plant Identification is not a standard curriculum, and neither is learning the ecological impacts of every plant.
The number of invasive species to be on the lookout for is also an overwhelming one. In the soil there are invasive Jumping Worms. You can find egg masses of the Spotted Lantern Fly on tree bark, firewood, and lawn furniture. In many suburban housing additions built 1990-2015, you can find Callery/Bradford Pears in almost every other front yard. Burning Bush and Japanese Barberry are two other classic species of landscape shrubs that are renowned for their vibrant splash of color they add to a yard.
Perhaps you have heard of what I would say is the most well-known invasive species, the Emerald Ash Borer, because if you haven’t heard of the specific beetle and its hungry larvae, you have heard of the decline of ash trees. There are so many invasive species out there, and not all are plants. There are invasive species of invertebrates, mussels, birds, fish, diseases, pathogens, and bacteria.
What can you do about invasive species?
- LEARN MORE!!!
First step is always going to be to learn more, so you can confidently identify plants, their negative impacts, and removal/control methods.
Join the Invasive Species Class in November, it’s a 3-week class on Tuesday evenings at the Crawfordsville Library to learn the “Introduction to Invasive Species”, “Invasive Species in the Home Landscapes”, and “Reporting, Recording, and Tracking Invasive Species”
- Participate in a Weed Wrangle and/or join the local Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA) on a removal day!
- Don’t move firewood! “Buy and Burn Local”, moving firewood great distances and purchasing and burning uncertified or untreated firewood can spread diseases and insects to virgin locations and environments that never had the pest to begin with.
- Research before you buy! Check out the list of state-recognized invasive species, and don’t buy them when you see them at the nurseries or box stores. Find the list on IN DNR website or on Purdue’s website.
Tricia Herr is the Extension Educator | Agriculture & Natural Resources at the Purdue Extension Montgomery County Office