Introduction

Invasive Species Defined

What's Being Done

 National Invasive Species Information Center

Submodule 3: Invasive Plants

Important Terrestrial Invasive Plants

The vast majority of invasive plants are angiosperms (flowering plants); a few are gymnosperms (cone-bearing plants). There is some evidence of some invasiveness among mosses and ferns, but not in the U.S. Since many terrestrial invasive plants exploit animals as a mode of seed dispersal, and because these animals can also contribute to habitat destruction making infestation possible, it has been observed that plants with the most animal dispersers are those that are more likely to become invasive. For this reason, it may be necessary to control animals through such measures as eradicating feral animals and changing livestock grazing patterns. Animals have been aiding plant invasions throughout evolutionary time; what has changed in the last half-century is the rate of invasive plant introductions.