The United States naturalized flora: Largely the product of deliberate introductions'

By R. N. Mack, Marianne Erneberg. 2002

239 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Over the past 400 years plant immigrants have arrived in the United States in huge numbers, the results of accidental and deliberate introduction by humans. Very few immigrations, however, result in naturalizations; the environmental hazards for immigrants in a new range are usually acute and chronic. We traced the history of introduction among the naturalized taxa within a group of U.S. regions and states that span much of the environmental amplitude of the United States. Despite differences among these regions in physical environments and the length of their histories of plant immigration, the proportion of their naturalized floras that likely arrived through deliberate introductions is greater than 50 percent Many of the first species to become naturalized in the northeastern United States were introduced as food seasonings or putative sources of medicine. Erstwhile ornamentals are prominent components of all the naturalized floras, especially in Florida. Some species introduced as sources of forage or fiber also became naturalized. Before 1900 many now naturalized species were introduced repeatedly and widely into the United States as seed contaminants through an extensive international commerce in crop seeds. The mode of entry is unknown for approximately 30 percent. The likelihood that the majority of species now naturalized in the United States has a history of deliberate introduction and post-immigration cultivation provides a plausible explanation for their persistence in a new range.

Subfields: Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/efa1811a6124f946ecdf0bfc8563c62be25b379a

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

1. Petr Pyšek
2. D. Richardson
3. P. Hulme
4. Jan Pergl
5. P. Genovesi
6. Julian D. Olden
7. M. Vilà
8. S. Bacher

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. Petr Pyšek
2. D. Richardson
3. P. Hulme
4. M. Vilà
5. Jan Pergl
6. Julian D. Olden
7. Daniel Simberloff
8. I. Kühn

In Plant Science

1. Petr Pyšek
2. D. Richardson
3. P. Hulme
4. M. Vilà
5. Jan Pergl
6. I. Kühn
7. J. Dukes
8. Daniel Simberloff

Citations in the corpus

• Propagule pressure: a null model for biological invasions (2006, background): “Similarly, Mack and Erneberg (2002) estimated that well over 50% of nonindigenous plants were intentionally introduced to the United States for anthropogenic use, while Richardson (1998) suggested that globally 'invasive' Pinus species tend to be those planted the most widely and for the longest…”
• Troubling travellers: are ecologically harmful alien species associated with particular introduction pathways? (2017, background): “Some pathways are increasingly well studied, such as horticulture and forestry as a source for plant invasions (Mack and Erneberg 2002, Dehnen-Schmutz et al.”
• Do Alien Plants Reduce Insect Biomass? (2004, background): “Many pest-free ornamentals have escaped cultivation and are now naturalized over wide areas (Mack & Erneberg 2002).”
• Climatic niche shifts between species' native and naturalized ranges raise concern for ecological forecasts during invasions and climate change (2014, background): “Many of the species introduced early in the colonization of the USA are agricultural weeds in Europe, accidentally introduced through seed contamination (Mack & Erneberg, 2002).”
• Conundrums of a complex vector for invasive species control: a detailed examination of the horticultural industry (2010, background): “In fact, nonindigenous dispersals reach their greatest impact through the trade and distribution of horticultural plant products—primarily ornamentals (Anderson and Ascher 1993, Groves 1996, Mack 2003; Mack and Erneberg 2002, Randall and Marinelli 1996, Reichard and White 2001).”
• Introduced species policy, management, and future research needs (2005, background): “Where data exist, however, deliberate introductions account for about half of all problem introductions (eg OTA 1993; Mack and Erneberg 2002).”
• Effects of Climate Change on Invasive Species (2021, background): “4 Effects of Climate Change on Invasive Species 60 There is a 400-year history of importing and cultivating introduced grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees into the United States for ornamental or agricultural purposes (Mack and Erneberg 2002; Reichard and White 2001).”
• Global change, global trade, and the next wave of plant invasions (2012, background): “Indeed, Mack and Erneberg (2002) estimated that over 60% of established, non-native species in the US were deliberately introduced.”
• Invasive alien plants in China: diversity and ecological insights (2008, background): “Ornamentals contributed most to the invasive plants, which has been found for other countries and at a global scale (Reichard and White 2001; Mack and Erneberg 2002; Weber 2003).”
• Preventing horticultural introductions of invasive plants: potential efficacy of voluntary initiatives (2007, unknown): “A large percentage of invasive plant species in the US have been deliberately imported for horticultural and landscaping purposes (Reichard 1997; Reichard and White 2001; Mack and Erneberg 2002; Bell et al. 2003; Pimentel et al. 2005).”
• A century of the ornamental plant trade and its impact on invasion success (2007, background): “In fact the majority of species in the alien floras of many areas originate from horticultural introductions (Groves, 1998; Mack & Erneberg, 2002; Py s ek et al ., 2002).”
• Plant invasions along mountain roads: the altitudinal amplitude of alien Asteraceae forbs in their native and introduced ranges (2009, background): “…associated with agriculture, has often led to high levels of genetic variation (e.g. Neuffer and Hurka 1999, Novak and Mack 2005), and their spread has been nurtured by management practices such as mowing and cattle-grazing to which they are pre-adapted (di Castri 1989, Mack and Erneberg 2002).”
• Cultivar selection prior to introduction may increase invasiveness: evidence from Ardisia crenata (2006, background): “The majority of invasive non-indigenous plants in the USA have been deliberately introduced for agricultural and horticultural purposes (Mack and Erneberg 2002; Mack 2003).”
• Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) as a Biological Model in the Study of Plant Invasions (2004, background): “There are several factors that are responsible for the increase in invasive plant species including deliberate introduction for forage, erosion control, and ornamental use, increase in accidental introductions due to increased global travel and trade, and increase in habitat disturbance that can pro”
• Invasive plants and their ecological strategies: prediction and explanation of woody plant invasion in New England (2007, background): “This is particularly true in the USA, where a majority of invasive plants are introduced intentionally by the agriculture, forestry, and nursery trades (Reichard & White, 2001; Mack & Erneberg, 2002), and thus it may be possible to control introductions in the future.”
• Plant invasions in Taiwan: Insights from the flora of casual and naturalized alien species (2004, background): “…has been shown in other regions that most invasive species were introduced intentionally as ornamentals, for forage, medicine, and for other purposes (Mack & Erneberg, 2002; Mack, 2003), while unintentional introductions usually occurred through contaminated fodder or crop seeds, footwear,…”