OF I NTEREST P R OT E C T I N G THE GREAT OU TDOORS By Sara Hall As more people head outdoors for recreation, nature lovers can better appreciate the environment if they understand the native habitat. Take the golden hills of wild mustard, for example: While it creates a pretty landscape, this invasive plant can wreak havoc on the natural ecosystem in Southern California. Native plants are the foundation of ecosystems, and it’s important to conserve them in their respective habitats, says Liv O’Keeffe, California Native Plant Society’s (CNPS) senior director of public affairs “When we remove those plants, we impact not just the plants but the wildlife and watersheds they support,” Liv explains. “When we save plants, we save everything else.” Most experts agree that invasive organisms — primarily plants — are the second largest threat to biodiversity, second only to habitat loss from development and urbanization, notes Ron Vanderhoff, a CNPS Orange County chapter board member. Invasive plants threaten endangered and sensitive species, interfere with recreation, and cause significant impacts to hydrology and water use, such as clogging waterways or sucking up the limited supply of water.
Photos courtesy of Laura Camp
They are a nuisance in other ways too, including on taxpayers’ wallets. According to the California Invasive Plant Council, it costs California an estimated $82 million annually for control, monitoring, and outreach, although the total expenditure of actual ecosystem impacts is difficult to quantify. This figure also doesn’t include efforts on federal, county, city, private, or other non-state-owned lands. It’s also a distressingly ironic circumstance that fuel breaks and “fire suppression” zones adjacent to housing are hot spots for invasive plants. These
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