Foreign plants, animals conquering native species

The vine's turquoise, blue and lavender berries stand out on a steamy summer morning, making it clear why nurseries sell it to climb trellises, provide privacy and attract birds.

But a closer look shows this porcelain berry vine at Cherokee Park is entwined with a nearby bush, smothering it.

Brought to North America as ornamental in the 19th century, porcelain berry is one of hundreds of aggressive, foreign plants remaking the nation's landscape, including Kentucky and southern Indiana.

The porcelain berry and some other non-native plants are still sold at nurseries locally and online. One of the most prevalent invasive plants, Asian bush honeysuckle, is now a pariah at most nurseries.

The foreign plants eventually escape to grow unchecked without natural predators, strangling or crowding out native plants and robbing them of sunlight and nutrients.

“You can drive down almost any road, as you watch the vegetation on the roadside ... most of the plants you look at out your car window and see are not from this country,” said Jeff Sole, director of conservation programs for the Nature Conservancy in Kentucky.

Across the country, government officials, representatives of industry and environmental advocates are recognizing a problem that many say is getting worse. Some states have begun to take on the challenge with new laws, policies and councils aimed at getting competing interests to talk to each other.

To read the rest of the article, click here.