Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Invasive species on the San Juan

So we came to a camp site one day and found this plant.P7070125
Found out the next day that the BLM rangers pulled it as an invasive species.  Wonder if they destroyed it via burning?

7 comments:

  1. I was doing a run on James Peak, and was advised by the people at the trailhead to pull "Noxious Weeds". Then they showed me a picture of a daisy.

    Good thing there aren't doves in the area, or they would be handing out shotguns to volunteers.

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  2. The daisy mentioned is the oxeye daisy. And, it's is, indeed, an invasive species...on Colorado's "B" list (the second worst). This attractive flower can take over higher elevation habitat and squeeze out all the other flowers/plants we enjoy. It's an escaped ornamental flower. Unfortunately, invasive species are the #2 threat to native biodiversity, second only to habitat loss. See here: http://www.cwma.org/Oxeye.html

    Damn, I have got to leave work at work!

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  3. "It's an escaped ornamental flower". I remember when that happened. It killed 3 of the guards after starting a riot in the greenhouse. Then it stole a truck and robbed a liquor store before holing up in the high mountains of Colorado.

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  4. As always, Lucho FTW.

    Jim, thanks for the response! I figured it was something like that; back east some of the old hardwood forests are being completely overwhelmed by an undergrowth of ornamental plants. What is your work?

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  5. We were a bit bummed to hear that the rangers pulled it the next day. Someone had obviously worked to get it to this remote location, plant it, mulch it ... and there was obviously a lot of watering of it that had occurred.

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  6. I work for The Nature Conservancy. The escaped ones are the worst. They have nothing to lose. And, once they've had a taste of freedom...

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  7. Lucho, I heard it actually successfully hijacked a plane, then jumped out into the high Rockies.

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