- Increase the ability of resource managers to analyze and prioritize invasive
plant management needs and to appropriately direct work efforts and resources,
enhancing the time and cost-effectiveness of invasive plant management actions.
- Serve as a baseline for long-term monitoring, and assist with the evaluation
of changes in exotic plant populations over time and/or the detection of new
exotic plant infestations
- Combine with other layers of information (e.g. soil types, depth to water
table, elevations) which can assist in identifying appropriate treatment or
control options as well as adding to the knowledge of ecological relationships
associated with alien plant invasions (predictive modeling).
- Serve as a critical tool for increasing public and political awareness and
education on invasive plant issues.
Inventory and mapping of exotic plants should be integrated
with general vegetation surveys and surveys being conducted by other agencies
and organizations. Data organized into maps and databases provide valuable
information towards the development of a network-monitoring scheme. Ancillary
uses of maps and data are for public education, development of predictive models
and estimations of risk from various plant species. Goals and objectives for
inventory and mapping should ensure products can serve the above purposes
Mapping is an important way to communicate inventory
information. This tool provides a visual picture of how abundant a species is
and how it is distributed across the landscape. When over-layed on a map of
priority habitats or natural communities, one may be able to quickly evaluate
the species that are priorities for control or eradication. Mapping can take
many forms, everything from recording written information on a paper map to
using GPS (global - positioning system) and recording in a mapping program such
as GIS (global information system). However it is done, most invasive species
practitioners are recommending that the North American Weed Management
Association (NAWMA) standards are followed (see information below).
Managing and controlling invasive exotic plants is
difficult, expensive and requires a long-term commitment. Land managers have
limited resources and so prioritizing efforts is critical. High priority should
be given to those species that have substantial impacts on natural resources or
on attainment of management goals and are believed to be easy to manage. High
priority should also be given to those species that are not yet established or
causing major impacts, but have the potential to do so. Low priority should be
given to species that cause little impact, are virtually impossible to control,
or both.
Ranking species according to the species level of
impact and its innate ability to become a pest is an important first step in
managing and controlling invasive plants. This information can be weighed
against the perceived feasibility or ease of control. Several ranking or
prioritizing systems have been designed to assist in separating the innocuous
species from the disruptive species. The separation allows researchers to then
concentrate further efforts on species in the disruptive category. These systems
are also designed to identify those species that are not presently a serious
threat but have the potential to become a threat and, thus, should be monitored
closely and preventative steps taken.
A number of widely used inventory, mapping,
invasive plant assessment and ranking tools exist. We have presented brief
summaries of some of those with location information for each. Instead of
presenting one or two examples, we thought it most effective to have you review
and decide which would be most applicable to your situation. There are more
resources that exist and these are identified under "Additional Resources and
Information" at the end of this section. For more information contact the
institution identified. |
