[APWG] NEWS: Do Horses Spread Non-Native Plants on Trails?

[Olivia Kwong]

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=8846

Do Horses Spread Non-Native Plants on Trails?
by: Stith T. Gower, PhD
February 11 2007 Article # 8846

Can plant and weed seeds contained in horse manure, hooves, and hay cause 
nonnative plant species (plants that were introduced to that ecosystem but 
do not grow there naturally) to spread along trails and into parks and 
forests? This is an ecological question that often arises. Stith T. Gower, 
PhD, of the Department of Forest Ecology and Management at the University 
of Wisconsin-Madison, has determined that while there are seeds from weed 
and non-native plant species in horse manure and hay, the plants that 
result don't survive or spread on trails. Therefore, horses do not appear 
to be a major source for the introduction of nonnative species.

See the link above for the full article text.