Arundo displaces native plants along a Sorrento Valley creek

California is world-famous for its diversity of topography and climate.  Because of this, California supports some 5,000 different species of plants -- the largest number of any of the states.  Unfortunately, California has also become home to about 1,000 non-native plant species.  About 100 of these non-natives are pest plants.  They are not weeds of agriculture nor landscapes; they are weeds of natural areas.  These "invasive plants" have spread into California's wildlands, creating a host of problems:

• Increasing the intensity, frequency, and size of wildfires
• Altering soil chemistry and nutrient levels
• Lowering water tables
• Altering rates of sedimentation and erosion
• Displacing or outcompeting native plant species
• Degrading or eliminating habitat for native animals and organisms
• Providing habitat for undesireable non-native animals and organisms

Carl E. Bell
Regional Advisor - Invasive Plants
cebell@ucdavis.edu