“INVASIVE SPECIES”
Plants & Restoration: “Where is it at home?” vs. “Where is it from?”
In pursuit of an approach based less on ideology and more on real world dynamics
In 1912, Albert Thellung (1881–1928), a Swiss botanist, was one in a long line of people who proposed a taxonomy to differentiate various types of native and non-native plants, and though his system never caught on, we’d like to call out one of his designations: epœkophytes. These are plants that, in his words, are
“present since recent times and also constantly reproducing, but restricted to artificial localities (e.g., especially liking fields and vineyards). The persistence of these species depends on man, who must preserve (or rather continuously re-create) conditions appropriate to them (plowed ground, cleared patches); they produce ripe seeds in sufficient quantity, but they cannot compete with invading indigenous species.”
Note the use of “invading” for a native species. Here, the word describes a habit of growth, and has nothing to do with geographical origin. Also note the hypothesis of a species that depends on continuous man-made disturbance, and that might go extinct without it. Which raises some questions. In the context of ecological restoration that aims to return ecosystems to their “natural” or “untouched” condition, where do…