Invasive Plants

Climate change and invasive species are transforming ecosystems. The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework organizes management objectives into those that seek to Resist change and maintain historical ecological communities, those that Accept some or all aspects of ecological transformation, and those that Direct an ecological community to a preferred state. We are evaluating risks posed by climate...

Cheatgrass, an invasive annual grass, reduces ecosystem productivity, negatively impacts biodiversity, and is increasingly problematic in higher elevation ecosystems with climate change. Cheatgrass phenology (that is, the timing of yearly growth and lifespan) varies greatly with elevation, climate, and weather from year to year, which can make management planning difficult and reduce the ability...

Invasive plants negatively impact our water, wildlife, and way of life. Current management tools are not cutting it, so a multi-agency research team is using molecular biotechnology to develop new species-specific treatments that help land managers improve the natural resources that we depend on and have more management options during droughts, floods, and other periods of plant stress. This...

Melaleuca, also known as a paperbark tree, is an invasive tree.

Brazilian waterweed is an invasive aquatic plant.

Brome is an invasive plant.

Leafy spurge is an invasive Eurasian perennial introduced into the United States as a contaminant of crop seed in the 1880s and 1890s. It is an invasive plant that is poisonous to cattle and infests more than 2.7 million acres in southern Canada and the northern Great Plains. It typically forms monocultures and because of the latex that occurs in all parts of the plant, it is not consumed by...

Siberian elm are an invasive tree.

The abundance of Russian olive varies across the Western United States; these species can be dominant, codominant, or subdominant relative to native species.

For more than a decade, USGS scientists have been leaders in understanding saltcedar invasion on riparian ecosystems in the southwest including effects on plant communities, water loss, erosion, wildlife use and human recreational resources. Models have been developed that quantify the extent of saltcedar distribution and inform management actions. In addition, USGS is studying the effectiveness...

Cheatgrass and other invasive annual grasses continue to expand into the sagebrush ecosystem in the West and are fueling larger and more frequent wildfires. The life cycle of cheatgrass differs from most native grasses in that it dries out early in the season while native grasses are still green and producing seeds. This fuels fires earlier in the season and cheatgrass spreads quickly following...

Invasive species are costly, disrupt natural ecosystems, and consequently threaten native species. Phragmites, a tall wetland grass, has been a part of U.S. wetlands for many years. However, a strain from Europe, introduced in the early 19th century, aggressively displaces the native strain and has spread across the U.S. and Canada. These aggressive invasive plants form highly dense stands that...