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  Destinations: Exotic Plant Species
"Exotic", "alien", "introduced", "nonindigenous" and "nonnative" are all synonyms for species that humans intentionally or unintentionally introduced into an area outside of a species'' natural range. They do not wait to be invited into parks, they take every available avenue to invade, colonize and conquer.What are exotic plant species?
The National Park Service (NPS) Management Policies define exotic species as those occurring outside their native ranges in a given place as a result of actions by humans. This definition allows the National Park Service to distinguish between changes to park resources caused by natural processes, such as natural range expansions and contractions, and those changes caused by humans. This distinction is important because the Park Service is required to keep the parks as unaltered by human activities as possible.Why manage exotic species?
At least 194 parks have recognized that exotics species are a serious problem. Over 535 projects to eradicate exotics species have been identified service-wide in Resource Management Plans for implementation over the next four years at a cost of over $80 million. So far, less than 10 percent of the projects (over $8 million) are funded. How is NPS managing exotic species? An Exotic Species Ranking System has been developed by the Park Service for resource managers to evaluate exotic plants within a park according to the level of impact of the species and its innate ability to become a pest. The system is designed to separate innocuous species from the more disruptive species. For example, of Indiana Dunes'' mre than 1,440 vascular plants, 300 are exotic, but only 14 of these exotics are considered to be major threats at this time. The Park Service, as a leader in exotic plant control, has assisted with the establishment of several Exotic Pest Plant Councils. These councils represent dozens of agencies at the state, federal and private levels across the country dealing with exotic plant issues. The Service is also working with state and federal agencies in several parks to develop biological control agents to manage several exotic plant species. In 1993, the Bureau of Land Management coordinated a multi-departmental effort to develop a white paper on exotic weeds. The paper was completed and the Federal Interagency Committee for Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds was created through a Memorandum of Understanding. The NPS Integrated Pest Management Coordinator is a member of the committee and is working cooperatively with other members to accomplish an ecological and integrated approach to the management of exotic weeds on federal lands and is providing technical assistance to the public. The National Park Service has created a temporary task force to evaluate its current efforts in exotic weed management and will make recommendations for improving the agency''s capabilities in that area. Related Articles
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