It is Invasive Species Awareness Week and Ariane Aramburo talked with two experts about what an invasive species is, how they can harm Alaska and what the average person can do.
Published: Jun. 12, 2024 at 8:25 PM AKDTANCHORAGE, Alaska - From choke cherry trees to green crabs, there are plants and animals that have moved to or been brought to Alaska that don’t belong.
It is Invasive Species Awareness Week, and Ariane Aramburo talked with two experts about what invasive species are, how they can harm Alaska, and what the average person can do to avoid contributing to the problems they pose. There are many non-native plants and animals that have either intentionally or accidentally been brought to Alaska. They aren’t all invasive. To have a plant or animal labeled as “invasive,” it must cause economic or environmental harm to native species.
Take the choke cherry tree, for example, which was brought to Anchorage in the 1950s. It attracted birds, and moose didn’t usually eat it. Turns out, that’s because it has cyanide in it, and it spreads quickly. “So, that’s something that’s of big concern for moose habitat,” said Gino Graziano, Invasive Plant Instructor with the UAF, Institute of Agriculture Natural Resources and Extension, “but also, it creates this really dense vegetation layer that keeps a lot of things from growing underneath it that you would normally see, dogwoods, current, high bush cranberries.
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