Ecologists call for screening imported plants to prevent a new wave of invasive species
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 14:00
in Biology & Nature
A recent analysis led by ecologist Bethany Bradley at the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggests that climate change predicted for the United States will boost demand for imported drought- and heat-tolerant landscaping plants from Africa and the Middle East. This greatly increases the risk that a new wave of invasives will overrun native ecosystems in the way kudzu, Oriental bittersweet and purple loosestrife have in the past, members of the international team say.