The Key Role of Human Disturbance in the Establishment of Introduced Plants

It's not them. It's us.

On the roadside: Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) with Golden Northern Bumble Bee (Bombus fervidas), and in background, out of focus, Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Here’s a draft chapter from the book Nikki Hill & I are working on, which has the working title, “Don’t Blame the Messengers: A critique of the ‘invasive plant’ narrative.” Paying subscribers will get a copy of the full book draft when it’s completed, hopefully in the spring.

The word “invasive” calls to mind visions of armies pouring over borders, paratroopers dropping out of the sky, and tanks rolling over the countryside, wiping out countless helpless victims and leaving behind a ruined, desolate landscape. Popular “invasive” narratives often imply that introduced plants are preternaturally aggressive and inevitably wreak destruction, or threaten to do so. Such narratives further assert or imply that, intrinsically, native plants are vulnerable and their native ecosystems fragile.

However, this narrative ignores the role of human-made disturbance in manufacturing conditions favorable for the establishment of introduced plant species. The situation on the ground is rarely about foreign plants “invading” intact native ecosystems. It’s far more about those ecosystems being severely altered by particular human activities, giving the introduced plants an opportunity they wouldn’t have had otherwise.