[PCA] "Native plant" definitions ?

Wed Jun 28 13:13:38 CDT 2006

Thanks Craig,  I think I will have to modify or retract my statement about
the National Park Service.  I think this is what I was told, and I think I
even read it somewhere in a brochure years ago, but I cannot prove it at this
point or give a citation.  I think it would be more correct to say that many
people assume that it is indigenous in New England because it is so
widespread. Also, it is attractive, and I think that the public is inclined
to assume that that attractive plants "belong".  I have heard people exclaim
how beautiful an expanse of purple loostrife is!  Yet we know it as an
agressive invader.  (It was first collected growing on piles of wool waste
near textile mills in Massachusetts).

I wasn't aware of the nuances of the latest research on Phragmites.  I do
know that the various species or varieties are widespread and a source of
confusion.

You are correct in what you say about the coconut.  Charles Darwin soaked
coconuts in seawater for months and they still germinated.  Undoubtedly it
was widely dispersed without human intervention, and undoubtedly humans also
brought it along in their migrations, so at this point it is hard to separate
the two means of dispersal.

Thanks for your comments.

Christopher Brown

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Tufts [mailto:TUFTS at nwf.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:06 AM
To: craig at ecoseeds.com; native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org; Brown,
Christopher MVN; emilyr at plantsocieties.org
Subject: Re: [PCA] "Native plant" definitions ?

Chris:

I am somewhat surprised that anyone considers the first two species
listed as native. A number of jurisdictions label Rugosa Rose an
invasive and it certainly isn't native. It might be that some NPS staff
think it a native, but I have trouble believing that the agency
considers it so.

There has been a lot of discussion about Phragmites, native
genotypes/species vs. hybrid swarms and Eur species. I think most people
who study the plant generally know which is the native and how the
invasive form acts.

Coconut is a little different. In addition to being transported all
over much of the tropics and subtropics by people for thousands of
years, it is a drift-dispersed species and can easily island hop by
itself. 

Craig Tufts

>>> "Brown, Christopher MVN" <Christopher.Brown at mvn02.usace.army.mil>
6/28/2006 11:36 AM >>>
The line between "native" and "invasive" can sometimes get blurry.  As
one
example, consider Rosa rugosa Thunb.  It is native to Japan, and was
imported
into New England as an exotic garden plant about 150 years ago.  Since
then,
it has escaped from cultivation and established itself so thoroughly
along
beaches in New England that it is considered by most people to be part
of the
native flora, since no one living today has any memory of a time when
it
wasn't present in abundance.  The National Park Service even considers
it
native and warns people not to disturb it, because it is part of the
"native"
flora!  How long ago does a plant need to have arrived to be
considered
"native"?

Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.,  (Syn.: Phragmites
communes
Trin.;  Phragmites vulgaris B.S.P.) is so widely distributed that it
is
difficult to discern to what region it may be "native".  

Cocos nucifera L. is probably native to the Indian Ocean region, but
now so
widely distributed that the term "native" has little meaning.

These are just three examples, among many others possible to cite, of
how
tricky it can be to say what is "native".  In the case of recent
arrivals the
question is not difficult, but when introductions have occurred
hundreds or
thousands of years ago the answers are usually not so clear.

I hope this is helpful.

CB

Dr. J. Christopher Brown, Botanist

US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District

USACE-MVN-PM-RP, Room 363

P.O. Box 60267

New Orleans, LA  70160-0267

Voice phone:  504-862-2508

Fax:  504-862-2088

email:  christopher.brown at mvn02.usace.army.mil 

-----Original Message-----
From: native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org 
[mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of
Emily
Roberson
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 3:58 PM
To: 'Craig Dremann'; native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org 
Subject: Re: [PCA] "Native plant" definitions ?

Native Plant Conservation Campaign folks and others: 

This is very important right now because the Forest Service has a
draft

policy on revegetation with native plants out for comment right now. 

The proposed definition of "genetically appropriate" plants for
revegetation

and restoration projects is somewhat problematic or at least could use
some

refining. Their definition of "native" also needs review.

Any comments or definitions of "native", "local native" or anything
related

would be VERY helpful. I am interested not just in agency definition
but

also in scientific definitions, native plant organization definitions,
etc. 

THANK YOU! 

======================================

Draft policy attached FYI. Comments are due by 7/25. 

Here are the definitions:

Genetically appropriate. 

A plant adapted to target site conditions (e.g., has good
establishment,

vigor, and reproductive capabilities); sufficiently diverse to respond
and

adapt to changing climates and environment conditions; unlikely to
cause

genetic contamination and undermine

local adaptations, community interactions, and function of resident
native

species within the

ecosystem; unlikely to become (unnaturally or inappropriately) invasive
and

displace other

native species; unlikely to be a source of non-native invasive
pathogens;

likely to maintain

critical connections with pollinators.

Native plant. 

All indigenous, terrestrial, and aquatic plant species that evolved

naturally in an

ecosystem.

Emily

____________________________

Emily B. Roberson, Ph.D.

Director

Native Plant Conservation Campaign

A Program of the Center for Biological Diversity

PMB 151 (not p.o.b) 

1459 18th St. 

San Francisco, CA 94107

Phone: 415 970 0394 

Email:  eroberson at biologicaldiversity.org 

Web:   http://www.plantsocieties.org 

          www.biologicaldiversity.org 

The mission of the NPCC is to promote appreciation and conservation of

native plant species and communities through collaboration, education,
law,

policy, land use and management.

.

-----Original Message-----

From: apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org 

[mailto:apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of Craig
Dremann

Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 9:07 AM

To: apwg at lists.plantconservation.org 

Cc: rwg at lists.plantconservation.org 

Subject: [APWG] "Native plant" definitions of government agencies?

Dear All,

Government land management agencies write manuals and definitions for

the work they do.

The US Forest Service manual has a definition for "native plants", to

differentiate the native plants from the exotic plants.

Andrew Kratz, a Forest Service Regional Botanist in Colorado and I
were

having a discussion about the Forest Service's current definition of

"native plant", which follows:

"All indigenous, terrestrial, and aquatic plant species that evolved

naturally in an ecosystem." (FSM 2070.5)

Unfortunately, at first glance, the sentence looks correct, but has

numerous errors in it.   We are suggesting a rewrite, as follows:

"The indigenous plant species of a particular area, both aquatic and

terrestrial, that are natural members of the local ecosystem."

Are there any other government agency definitions of "native plant"
out

there?

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333

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