Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Global Invasive Species Programme; IRA: Import Risk Analysis; NGIA: Nursery
and Garden Industry Australia; NIS: Nonindigenous species; SE-EPPC: Southeast
Exotic Pest Plant Council; US: United States; USDA: United State Department of
Agriculture; WRA: Weed Risk Assessment
9.1 Introduction
Nonindigenous species (NIS), also termed nonnative, exotic, and alien, are the sub-
ject of a considerable amount of interest, research, and debate. Many nonnative
plant species are incontrovertibly a great benefit to society by serving as food, tim-
ber, and ornamental plants (Ewel et al. 1999). However, other nonnative plant spe-
cies are particularly invasive, and therefore a bane to society when they negatively
impact native biodiversity and cause huge economic expenditures (Parker et al.
1999; Pimentel et al. 2000).
The topic on invasive, nonindigenous plants encompasses a great breadth of
issues and stakeholders. There is a vast literature dealing with the ecological, eco-
nomic, regulatory, control, management, and social aspects of invasive, nonnative
plants. Vested stakeholders include scientists, environmental groups, land managers,
regulatory officials, businesses in ornamental horticulture, seed, forest products, and
the gardening public. The scale of stakeholder interests ranges from international to
local arenas. Stakeholders' interest greatly affects their perspective of the topic on
nonnative plants; even the definitions of terms within the invasive NIS lexicon are
greatly affected by a stakeholder's interest. Differences in stakeholders' perception
can lead to adversarial interactions (Drake 2005). These interactions are precipitated
by the intersection of science, conflicting value systems, environmental ethics, and
public policy (Lodge and Shrader-Frechette 2003). A particularly visible and perti-
nent example of a vested interest that precipitates differences in opinion is the orna-
mental horticulture industry, whose businesses import, propagate, sell, and plant
mostly nonnative flora. This industry is especially vested in this issue since it is
responsible for the introduction and spread of thousands of nonnative plant species,
most of which stay in their intended locations or spread without significant environ-
mental negative impacts, while other nonindigenous plant species have proved to be
particularly invasive and quite environmentally deleterious. Thus, the juxtaposition
of the industry's powerful and fruitful economic impacts and the environmental and
regulatory agencies' desire to protect natural areas from invasive NIS sets the stage
for a conflict with no clear compromise or resolution. The ornamental horticulture
industry is by no means the only stakeholder in the fray of the invasive plant debate.
Other parties that are in the midst of the contentious invasive plant issue include
botanical gardens, gardeners and garden clubs, public agencies that plant and man-
age landscapes, and horticultural educational programs.
There is a relatively weak link between the scientific realm of invasive plant
biology and the ornamental horticulture industry. This is primarily because the sci-
ence of plant invasion biology is not often effectively communicated to individuals
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