Alternatives to Invasives

One thing that really, really irks me is an invasive species. Intellectually, I'm bothered by the ecological havoc they cause if they manage to become entrenched. Many don't, by the way, and some have no real impact. But the ones that do... It's just a bad idea to tolerate them, much less intentionally introduce them. And on a much less rational level, I strongly dislike them because by definition they're not supposed to be there. But mostly because they're ecologically and economically destructive, of course. I'm not cruel enough to step on the English garden snails in my backyard, but I do glare at them mercilessly.

For those of us in New England, there's a new gardening resource that tells us what native species can be used in place of common invasives. Don't think garden plants can spread beyond the yard? Dandelions are an Old World weed that's become established in nearly every temperate region of the planet. It's pretty harmless as invasive weed species go, but that comes down to luck on our part. What if it were toxic to livestock? Or gave a major advantage to the larvae of a crop-damaging species of insect?

These are academic questions for most invasives, fortunately, but they can become real issues of life or death for entire communities. Mnemiopsis, a species of comb jelly, was introduced into the Black Sea about twenty years ago. Despite being so fragile that they fall to pieces if you look at them too hard, they're incredibly efficient predators of fish eggs and larvae. In fact, the population that bloomed in the Black Sea managed to nearly wipe out the local anchovy population (and those of a few other small-sized fish species); these gelatinous beasties directly cause about $250 million in losses per year to the Black Sea fisheries. Recently, another species of comb jelly has become established there as well, but it preys on Mnemiopsis; I don't know if it's been there long enough to assess its impact yet.

So that's why you want to look into New England's native alternatives to invasives. Because you never know when some pretty shrub will cost you $250 million a year.