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[Chicsa]

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_do_we_decide_when_a_plant_is_native_climate_change/2984/

Interesting question. Something I care about, preserving native species, but at this point does it really matter? New things will become native. How are we not any different then say birds that distributed seeds across islands? I say we are every bit as equal to their distribution as plants, even though we have higher awareness of it and intent.

On rare occasions, the townsfolk of Amherst, Massachusetts, would catch a glimpse of a ghostly figure dressed in white, leaning over to tend her flowers by flickering lantern light. The mysterious recluse, who was better known to neighbors for her exquisite garden than for her lyric poems that revealed a passionate love of nature, differed from fellow 19th-century American writers whose thinking became the bedrock of modern environmentalism. While Thoreau famously declared wild places to be “the preservation of the world,” Emily Dickinson was finding nature’s truth and power in an ordinary dandelion.

Among the plants that survive on the family property where Dickinson confined herself for much of her adult life are picturesque old trees called umbrella magnolias (Magnolia tripetala) — so named because their leaves, which can reach two feet long, radiate out from the ends of branches like the spokes of an umbrella. The trees, believed to have been planted by Emily’s brother Austin, have jumped the garden gate in recent decades and established wild populations not far from the poet’s home. This new location is a couple of hundred miles north of the tree’s native range, centered in the sheltered woods and ravines of the Appalachian Mountains, and is the first evidence that native plant horticulture in the United States “is giving some species a head-start on climate change,” according to Smith College biologist Jesse Bellemare.
Ironically, the denizen of the Dickinson homestead is also challenging basic precepts of conservation practice, such as what is the definition of “native”? Are climate refugees that hitchhike north via horticulture less worthy of protection than plants that arrive on their own? Do they pose a threat to existing native species? Should native plant gardening, the domestic form of assisted migration, be used to help plants stranded in inhospitable habitat?

The standard definition of native, says Bellemare, was based on a view of nature as unchanging, and of what constitutes “native” as absolute and enduring. But “this very local definition breaks down,” he says, as climate change makes many plants unsuited to habitats they historically have occupied. The definition of native needs to shift, he adds, as the boundaries of entire biogeographic regions, like the eastern deciduous forest, shift with changing conditions. .... read on

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[MadPlanter]

Personally I care about preserving native environments but if a useful invasive enters the scene can it really be seen as bad? Sure we altered the environment but with something at least good to us. I wouldn't mind seeing wild caapi all through the forests of FL. Would it perhaps kill native plants and such...probably in certain regards. However it has tremendous human significance and now is easily found in the environment where it wasn't before for anyone to use. An oak tree gets eaten alive here and there but is the benefit of changing a mans entire perspective on things out weight the detrimental effects?

Especially food plants too. In a time of an unseen future I'm not gonna complain while I'm starving that the nutritious say plantain or Bidens alba is everywhere to eat. Those species most likely got here due to mans encroachment of all of earth. Any real harm done or food security???

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[LIBERTYNY]

Ecosystems change and adapt thats how they survive,  To go nuts becouse one species is taking over the system is nuts, Where do we draw the line on whats natural or not ?   That line is only drawn when the state can somehow steal more money from the people doing so

 In my area water chestnusts are choking out many lakes and small rivers/streams we are spending millions cleaning it out for it to grow back in under a year.  But the water chestnuts thrive off all the nitrogen from cesspools and such that make their way into the water, the same nitrogen that is a huge problem messing up our well water, that our politicians are spending huge amounts of money trying to combat 

 The same hand manages to steal out of all my pockets at once 

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[MadPlanter]

Invasive plants like water chestnut should be marketed. They're edible and demand for things out grow supply as we humans know so well and then eventually problem solved. Asian carp in Mississippi = fish emulsion fertilizer for local crops. But they complain and nothing real gets done...sad.

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[Mangrove]

Humanity has long since dished out a death sentence to Mother Earth; Man has been propagating "invasive species" ever since we began to "domesticate" plant/animal/fungal/etc. species for our own use and benefit ever since the dawn of civilization. It is far too late to rectify this ecological pandora's box, buuuuut this phenomenon of foreign species taking over foreign lands does, as MP points out, present a wonderful possibility for propagating useful species en masse for the benefit of our own. getting staple food species such as berries, yams, kale, lemon balm, etc. to invade other habitats could drastically improve global malnourishment and malnutrition issues as well as stimulating public interest in foraging and making it easier for foragers to sustain themselves off the land and decrease dependence on overpriced, unsustainably wasteful grocery companies and the faceless inhumane factory-farms they support. From a purely ethical point of view, yes, this suggestion is radical and unethical; alas, this can of worms was opened many millenniums ago; rectifying this problem makes even the most delusional of pipe dreams appear as real as the air we are breathing this very moment; the best thing to do about these two issues (climate change and invasive species) is to select and spread the most valuable/helpful/nutritious/active/useful/etc. species we can all around the world in the hopes that they may be able to sustain mankind long after his sickening societies sink back into the cesspool of filth, greed, arrogance and noxious chemicals his "higher thinking faculties" gave rise to in the first place.

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[sporehead]

We're focusing a lot of energy on preservation of current ecosystems and native species. But we're looking at a very small timeframe. In the grand scheme, plants will evolve and adapt and may replace the current species. We don't want 'invasives' to eliminate our current landscape, but that's just what happens. We fail to see the bigger picture.

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[Mr. seeds]

I will say however that water hyacinth and this one plant (i forget the name, purple flower, seeds stay dormant for years) and in Montana it's killed so much native life that it is a little alarming, one of the naturalists said that it basically took up so many fields. I think it was at least over 1000 miles but i'm not sure. Basically there's one giant field of it. I wish i remembered the name of the plant though, i'll have to go looking for it sometime and identify it.

Truly invasive species take up massive portions of natural habitats. And i'd also try to ask do they bring use to the environment itself? I'd wager that there are plants that would actually become companion plants to certain natural species. And i'd also ask to what extent do they damage the environment? Biodiversity is important in the long run too and i think there needs to be a delicate balance.

I'm not sure if Caapi is that invasive but i think it depends on whether or not the plant could do considerable damage. Does it offer something to natural florida environments? And to what extent does Caapi spread (i've heard that Caapi is actually quite easy to control)?

[Mr. seeds]

Also on topic to the rising temperatures but this might be the last year we have with Coral... it's all going to become bleached and i think a large portion has already undergone complete bleaching   

[Botanicus]

I have a strict policy of only growing things "native" to this planet.

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[Mr. seeds]

I was thinking; what do you guys think about propagating these invasive species in space rather than on Earth? Like, eventually in the future. For now, we have to put a stop to invasive species if they begin to kill off the habitat that's sustaining the earth; now on the other hand.. what is attracting these different plants to kill off other plants; is it something specific or just a part of the plants nature? Water Hyacinth for example is edible, but it needs a species that feeds off it to keep it incheck from killing off the different ecosystems. Its kind of messed up... But, its a wonderful way to study these things; we need to actually go to these places and actually dig these plants out of the ground and work with scientists to get to the bottom of this; and make this information open to the public so that we can all learn why, how, and what we can do about this.