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Wall Cotoneaster– One of five cotoneaster species that are listed on Schedule 9. © Andy Karran
Himalayan Balsam – The ‘explosive’ seed pods can fire the seeds up to 7m. © Andy Karran
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CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE PL ANT KIND
Ever wondered what constitutes a native or non-native, ‘alien’ UK plant? Here, Gwent Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife Sites Officer Andy Karran explains more and talks in detail about Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) plants.
When the last Ice-age ended 10,000 years ago, the ice retreated and conditions became more habitable. This allowed a whole range of plants to colonise the UK via the land-bridge that still connected us to Europe. As the seas flooded we were cut off from Europe and our native flora was basically established. Man then colonised the UK around 8,000 years ago and ever since then most of the additions to the flora have been carried out by us, either on purpose or accidentally.
Many of these ‘introduced’ species will have arrived a long time ago and it is hard to be sure exactly what is strictly native. They are generally all well established in the natural environment and have a natural balance of populations, these long-established plants are called Archaeophytes and are generally not too problematic or invasive.
There is however, a group of plants that have been brought in to the UK in more recent times and from further afield, generally as ornamental plants in gardens or in the aquaculture trade. These more recent ‘alien’ introductions are called Neophytes. Not all the Neophytes are problematic (it is estimated that 1 in 10 introduced species become established and of these 1 in 10 are
problematic). Many will ultimately die out or survive in small discrete populations causing little bother and perhaps adding just a splash more colour and diversity to the countryside. There are however, a number species that cause huge amounts of ecological and financial damage (£1.7 billion spent each year in UK dealing with them) and these are referred to as Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS).
INNS can be defined as: “any non-native plant that has the ability to spread causing damage to the environment, the economy, our health and the way we live”.
This can be applied to animals as well, and we will look at these in a future edition of this magazine.
You are probably familiar with INNS such as Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam and Giant Hogweed, however there are actually now around 50 plant species listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), together with various other algae. This legislation says: “It is illegal to plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild any plant listed in Schedule 9 to the Act”.
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GWENT WI LDL I F E TRUST INNS
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