Invasive Species

Bittersweet vines are a problem from the mountains to the coast.   Kudzu, brought to the United States to control erosion, has become North Carolina's most widely known invasive and an all too familiar sight along our state's highways.

Why does The Nature Conservancy care about non-native invasive species? And why should you?

• Invasive species are a growing threat threat to imperiled and endangered plants and animals. 
• On their home turf, plant and animal populations are kept in check by natural controls such as predators and food supply.  But when a new species is introduced into a non-native landscape, either accidentally or intentionally, the consequences can be devasting.
• Invasive plants and animals sometimes spread unchecked, disrupting natural cycles, crowding out native species and costing billions in property damage and lost economic property.
• The Nature Conservancy's Invasive Species Initiative provides extenstive information about invasive species, including a photo gallery to help identify the most problematic plants and animals.
• The U.S. Government has created a National Invasive Species Information Center to serve as a clearinghouse of information on the problems and solutions.

Invasive Species in North Carolina
Some of the most problematic invasive species of plants and animals in North Carolina are:

Alligator Weed - Alternantherea philoxeroides

Asian Clam - Corbicula fluminea

Chinaberry - Melia azedarach

Chinese Privet - Ligustrum sinese

Common Reed - Phragmites australis

Fire Ant - Solenopsis invicta buren

Giant Salvinia - Salvinia molesta

Grass Carp - Ctenopharyngodon idella

Gypsy Moth - Lymantria dispar

Japanese Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica

Japanese Knotweed - Polygonum cuspidatum

Japanese Stiltgrass - Microstegium viminieum

Kudzu - Pueraria montana var. lobata

Multiflora Rose - Rosa multiflora

Nutria - Myocastor coypus

Oriental Bittersweet - Celastrus orbiculatus

Princess Tree - Paulownia tomentosa

Tree of Heaven - Ailanthus altissima

Wisteria - Wisteria sinensis

To Learn More

• The Nature Conservancy's Invasive Species Initiative
• Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council

Images (top to bottom): John Randall and Plant Conservation Alliance