Landowner Toolkit Show your Hoosier roots - stay native, not invasive. Toolkit Contents • SICIM promotional flier • MIPN brochure – Landscape alternatives for Invasive Plants • IPSAWG brochure – Landscaping with non-invasive plant species: Making the right choice • 7 Invasive Plant Species Fact Sheets – glossy from IPSAWG (Periwinkle, Privet, Autumn Olive, Oriental Bittersweet, Japanese Honeysuckle, Crown Vetch, Asian Bush Honeysuckle) • 2 “Keep a Lookout” fliers with color pictures of 16 new invasive species – one flier for aquatic plants and one for terrestrial • Invasive plant species resource sheet – helpful websites, books and articles • Where do I start?! – INPAWS newsletter article by Ellen Jacquart on prioritizing invasive plant control actions on a given piece of land • Funding programs for invasive species control in Indiana – list and descriptions compiled by Ron Rathfon Thank you for your interest in invasive species control! This package of resource material, compiled by the Southern Indiana Cooperative Invasives Management, is intended to help landowners and land managers: • identify invasive species threats, • determine what options are effective to control them, and • find assistance for control efforts Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area What is the Southern Indiana Cooperative nate produce. Some invasive plants can even Weed Management Area (CWMA)? cause direct harm to humans or domestic It is a partnership between several federal and state animals. agencies, organizations, and universities aimed at coordinating efforts and programs to address the Why is the CWMA important? threat of invasive plants. Aren’t invasive plants already being managed? Yes, the agencies and organizations involved Where is the CWMA? are actively managing invasive plants, but The 37 counties in the southern 1/3 of the state of through the CWMA efforts can be coordi- Indiana are within the CWMA area. This region nated. It allows us to improve the effective- includes the Interior Low Plateau Ecoregion and ness and efficiency of management activities, is unique for its karst, extensive forests, hills, and, manage across jurisdictional boundaries, rivers, and lakes. Southern Indiana is known for pool available resources, and prioritize is- its natural resources, recreational resources, and sues. beauty. Invasive plants are a serious threat to all of these. How can I get involved? The simplest thing anybody can do to get involved is to be aware of the issue and not plant or spread invasive species. Learn to identify the major invasive plants in your area. Check to see if a plant is invasive before purchasing or planting it. Do not empty aquariums or dump house plants into the wild. Be sure to clean your shoes, brush off your clothes, and remove any dirt from equipment after being in an area with inva- sive plants. Start a control program on your land. Talk to local groups, communities, or government officials about invasive plants. Why are invasive plants a problem? An invasive plant is one that is not native to the For More Information: area, but has been introduced, is starting to spread, • Tom Tremain, CWMA President @ and is causing damage to the natural environment. 812-342-9193 or [email protected] Since these plants are in a new environment, free • Teena Ligman, Secretary @ 812-277-3579 of natural predators, parasites, or competitors, they or [email protected] often spread quickly. These large populations can • or go to - http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hoosier/ out-compete and displace native species, or can docs/plants/sicwma.htm reduce wildlife food and habitat. Some species can also disrupt vital ecosystem functions like nutrient Southern Indiana CWMA Mission: cycling or soil decomposition. Other invasive plants Protect, restore, and enhance southern Indi- cause economic damage to agriculture. They can ana’s landscapes by coordinating efforts to harm or kill crops, clog equipment, and contami- identify, prevent, and control invasive species. Southern Indiana CWMA Partners: Bloominton Park Department, EcoLogic, INC, Four Rivers R&D, Historic Hoosier Hills RC&D, Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry, Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks, Indiana Department of Transporation, Indiana University, Lincoln Hills RC&D, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Purdue University, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Society of American Foresters, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Hoosier National Forest, White River RC&D October 2008 ‘Prairie Flame’ ‘Prairie Rhus per year (www.invasivespecies.gov). year per plants cost the United States approximately $35 billion billion $35 approximately States United the cost plants by changing hydrology or soil chemistry. Invasive Invasive chemistry. soil or hydrology changing by currently show no signs of becoming invasive. becoming of signs no show currently destruction. Invasive plants can also alter communities communities alter also can plants Invasive destruction. native species and non-native species that that species non-native and species native their toll on the environment is second only to habitat habitat to only second is environment the on toll their invasive species listed in this brochure, both both brochure, this in listed species invasive threat to our native plants, animals and ecosystems; ecosystems; and animals plants, native our to threat We provide several alternatives for each of the the of each for alternatives several provide We economy. Invasive plant species pose an enormous enormous an pose species plant Invasive economy. Invasive plants threaten our environment and and environment our threaten plants Invasive invasion Species that need maintenance to prevent prevent to maintenance need that Species jumps the garden fence and invades natural areas. natural invades and fence garden the jumps W Watch and Maintain and Watch gardeners can also increase the likelihood that a plant plant a that likelihood the increase also can gardeners Unfortunately, many of these plant traits desirable to to desirable traits plant these of many Unfortunately, region per the definition above definition the per region seeds so it doesn’t need to be replanted every year. year. every replanted be to need doesn’t it so seeds Species that are known to be invasive in our our in invasive be to known are that Species I Invasive showy fruits that attract birds or is an annual that self self that annual an is or birds attract that fruits showy fast-growing. It’s even better if that plant produces produces plant that if better even It’s fast-growing. We divided our list into two categories: two into list our divided We Gardeners love plants that are adaptable, tough, and and tough, adaptable, are that plants love Gardeners a beautiful garden. beautiful a Everybody loves Everybody posing a threat to the integrity of the community. the of integrity the to threat a posing itself within existing native plant communities and is is and communities plant native existing within itself A species, usually non-native, that is able to establish establish to able is that non-native, usually species, A Invasive humans, either deliberately or accidentally. or deliberately either humans, Knockout rose Knockout A species that was brought to North America by by America North to brought was that species A Non-native (exotic, alien, introduced) alien, (exotic, natural means of dispersal. of means natural potential to be invasive. be to potential to European settlement or has arrived since through through since arrived has or settlement European to produce fewer seeds than their parent species have the the have species parent their than seeds fewer produce A species that was present in North America prior prior America North in present was that species A if they are sterile. Even cultivars of invasive plants that that plants invasive of cultivars Even sterile. are they if Native (indigenous) these species are only guaranteed to be non-invasive non-invasive be to guaranteed only are species these of the Midwest. Cultivars or hybrids produced from from produced hybrids or Cultivars Midwest. the of ornamentally and have become invasive in at least part part least at in invasive become have and ornamentally have become invasive. We use the following definitions: following the use We invasive. become have brochure, we focus on plant species that are used used are that species plant on focus we brochure, species are not invasive. In some rare cases, native species species native cases, rare some In invasive. not are species species, either accidentally or deliberately. In this this In deliberately. or accidentally either species, to a region, it is important to note that most non-native non-native most that note to important is it region, a to People have introduced the vast majority of invasive invasive of majority vast the introduced have People Although invasive plants are almost always not native native not always almost are plants invasive Although Vernonia fasciculata Vernonia Henry’ ‘Little Itea Roses’ and ‘Wine Weigela Alternatives MIPN.org Further reading Midwest Invasive Plant Network To find additional photos, full descriptions and cultural information for the suggested alternatives, please refer to the following references: Lobelia cardinalis Aronia melanocarpa Elata Armitage’s Native Plants for North American Gardens Armitage, A.M. 2006. Timber Press, Portland, OR. Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants Colston Burrell, C. 2006. Brooklyn Botanic