Foreword
The heart of this book is the species accounts, which provide detailed information about the biology and control of seventy-eight non-native plant species that are listed as Exotic Invasive Plants of Greatest Ecological Concern as of 1996 by the California Exotic Pest Plant Council (Cal-IPC). We decided to cover only the species on this list because it is the best effort to date1 to determine which of the non-native plants already growing wild in California cause or have the potential to cause serious damage in the state’s parks, preserves, and other wildlands. We are convinced that non-native invasive plants pose one of worst threats, perhaps the worst of all, to the state’s remaining populations and communities of native species. We hope the information on the pages that follow will be used to help promote the survival and growth of native plants and animals threatened by these invaders.
Cal-IPC was established in 1992 in response to growing concern about invasive non-native plants in the state’s wildlands. In 1994 Cal-IPC canvassed its members and other land managers and researchers around the state for information about non-native plants that invade California’s preserves, parks, and other wildlands. This information was used to develop a list of Exotic Invasive Plants of Greatest Ecological Concern in California. The species were grouped into several categories to indicate how severe and/or widespread they are. List A-1 includes the most invasive and damaging species that are widespread in the state. List A-2 includes highly damaging species that are invasive in fewer than five of the geographic subdivisions designated in The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. List B includes less invasive species that move into and degrade wildlands. The Red Alert List includes species whose ranges in California currently are small but that are believed to have the potential to spread explosively and become major pests. Species for which there was insufficient information to determine their ability to invade and degrade natural areas were placed on a Need More Information list and only a few for whom strong evidence is mounting are included in this book. As the list was being compiled and categorized it was reviewed, re-reviewed, and finally approved by a group of respected researchers. In 1996 the Cal-IPC list was updated based on new information and expanded to include a total of seventy-eight species.
We begin this book with a brief overview of the impacts of invasive plants and what we know about the characteristics of plant species most likely to invade and the habitats and communities most likely to be invaded. This is followed by a discussion of strategies and methods appropriate for the control of invasive plants in parks, preserves, and other wildlands. The remainder of the book consists of species accounts for seventy-eight invasive non-native species. Each account helps readers to identify the species and understand important aspects of its biology and lists specific control methods that are regarded as relatively effective, as well as some found to be ineffective.
1 We acknowledge that several non-native invaders that have caused severe damage to wildlands in California are not on the 1996 edition of the list, as does Cal-IPC. As we write this Cal-IPC is preparing an updated version of the list, but it will not be ready in time for us to include newly listed species.