Definition of invasive species
Why should I care?

What can I do?  👟︎ Step 1:  Learn about and report your invasive species
What can I do?  👟︎ 👟︎ Step 2:  Treatment, monitoring and restoration

🗺🛠 Mapping tools

Definition

Invasive species are 🌳︎🌲︎🌵︎🍁︎ ♒︎ ☙ plants, 🍄︎ fungi or 🐟︎ 🐢︎🐇︎ animals that:

  1. Arrived.
  2. Survived.
  3. Thrived.
  4. 💥︎ Damage the 🏞 environment, 📉︎ economy or ⚕︎ human health.  Some people call this damage biological pollution or biopollution.

That is why invasive species are listed second on E.O. Wilson's "HIPPO" list of threats to biodiversity:

References

[1]  Isely, Paul; Nordman, Erik E.; Howard, Shaun; and Bowman, Richard () "Phragmites Removal Increases Property Values in Michigan's Lower Grand River Watershed."  Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 5. DOI: 10.15351/​2373-8456.1076

And its video above or to left.

For full effect, select the video image, then icons YouTube (if present), ⏯︎ ⊠ Skip Ads (if present),  captions (if you wish),  full­screen, and ▶︎ Play.

[2]  "Redefining Curb Appeal:  Homeowners are recognizing the value of replacing front lawns with native plants."  National Wildlife Federation.  .   Accessed .

[3]  "Prevent the spread of invasive, non-native plants."  four agencies of gov.uk.  .   Accessed .

🇨🇦 Canada

🇨🇦 Canada:  Manitoba and Saskatchewan

This area is handled by EDDMapS Prairie Region.

You can also report your sighting at MISIN, as in the MISIN section below.   They will get the information to your local agency, although not daily — it will be batched up into larger time-chunks.

🇺🇸 USA

USA West:  Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming

This area is handled by EDDMapS West.

Residents of Washington State's King County can also report it at Report a Noxious Weed.

You can also report your sighting at MISIN, as in the MISIN section below.   They will get the information to your local agency, although not daily — it will be batched up into larger time-chunks.

USA Midwest:  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin

This area is handled by EDDMapS Midwest.

You can also report your sighting at MISIN, as in the MISIN section below.   They will get the information to your local agency, although not daily — it will be batched up into larger time-chunks.

USA New England:  Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont

This area is handled by Invasive Plant Atlas of New England.

You can also report your sighting at MISIN, as in the MISIN section above.   They will get the information to your local agency, although not daily — it will be batched up into larger time-chunks.

USA Texas:  Texas

This area is handled by Invaders of Texas.

You can also report your sighting at MISIN, as in the MISIN section above.   They will get the information to your local agency, although not daily — it will be batched up into larger time-chunks.

USA Southeast:  Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia

This area is handled by Southeast Early Detection Network SEEDN.

You can also report your sighting at MISIN, as in the MISIN section above.   They will get the information to your local agency, although not daily — it will be batched up into larger time-chunks.

What can I do?  👟︎ 👟︎ Step 2:  Treatment, monitoring and restoration

If in your yard or other area that you own, replace your invasive plants with nice alternative native plants.

For some species, do not compost your invasives — they will just grow out from there.  In most jurisdictions (verify yours!), you may place your invasive species in your municipal trash — tightly-bag it!  Or they have special collection days.  If we have information on managing specific species, we include that in our individual species pages, in buttons containing the word "control".

In Ontario, links to landowners guides, and a list of invasive plant management professionals available for hire across Ontario.

If professionals are doing the treatment, monitoring and restoration, they may use terms like invasive species management and control.

European Frogbit;  Removing invasive species from West Michigan is an interview about invasive species with Drew Rayner, Coordinator of the West Michigan CISMA, posted by Lindsay Hoffman, Fox17 News.  For full effect, select the video link, then icons YouTube (if present), ⏯︎ ⊠ Skip Ads (if present),  captions (if you wish),  full­screen, and ▶︎ Play.


Perhaps treatment will include prescribed browsing using 🐐︎ domestic goats  Capra aegagrus hircus (goatscaping), described in The Environment Report article New weapon to fight invasive plants in Michigan?  Goats or its 🔊︎ audio , and the Great Lakes Now article Hero Goats: Ottawa Parks in Michigan hires goat herd to fight invasive species and its video  above or to left.

For full effect, select the video image, then icons YouTube (if present), ⏯︎ ⊠ Skip Ads (if present),  captions (if you wish),  full­screen, and ▶︎ Play.

Learn more about reporting and managing invasive species

🔍︎ 🔍︎ images Discover Life Encyclopedia of Life Flora of North America USFS Wikipedia

Ticks and ⚕︎ tick-borne diseases (🇺🇸 USA CDC).