Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-04T06:15:12.473Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Invasive Species Assessment Protocol: A Tool for Creating Regional and National Lists of Invasive Nonnative Plants that Negatively Impact Biodiversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John M. Randall*
Affiliation:
Global Invasive Species Team, The Nature Conservancy, Global Invasive Species Team, Department of Plant Sciences, Mail Stop 4—Robbins Hall, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
Larry E. Morse
Affiliation:
NatureServe, 1101 Wilson Blvd., 15th Floor, Arlington, VA 22209
Nancy Benton
Affiliation:
NatureServe, 1101 Wilson Blvd., 15th Floor, Arlington, VA 22209
Ron Hiebert
Affiliation:
National Park Service, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 5765, Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Stephanie Lu
Affiliation:
NatureServe, 1101 Wilson Blvd., 15th Floor, Arlington, VA 22209
Terri Killeffer
Affiliation:
NatureServe, 1101 Wilson Blvd., 15th Floor, Arlington, VA 22209
*
Corresponding author's email: jrandall@tnc.org

Abstract

We developed a protocol for categorizing nonnative plants according to their negative impacts on biodiversity in a large area such as a state, nation, or ecological region. Our objective was to provide a tool that makes the process of identifying, categorizing, and listing nonnative plants that cause negative impacts to biodiversity analytic, transparent, and equitable and that yields lists that are useful to researchers, land managers, regulators, consumers, and commercial interests such as the nursery industry. The protocol was designed to distinguish between species that cause high, medium, low, or insignificant negative impacts to native biodiversity within the state, region, or nation of interest. It consists of 20 multiple-choice questions grouped into four sections, which each address a major aspect of a species' total impact and when combined yield an overall “Invasive Species Impact Rank” or “I-Rank” (high, medium, low, or insignificant). The nonprofit organization NatureServe is now using this protocol to assess the estimated 3,500 nonnative vascular plant species that are established in the United States to create a national list prioritized by negative impact on biodiversity. The protocol and additional information are available on the Internet at http://www.natureserve.org/getData/plantData.jsp, and over 500 completed species assessments are available through NatureServe Explorer (http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/).

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Alien Plant Working Group 2005. Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas. http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/factmain.htm#pllists. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Anonymous, , 1993. Florida's most invasive species. Palmetto Fall 67.Google Scholar
[APRS] Alien Plants Ranking System Implementation Team 2000. Alien Plants Ranking System. Version 5.1. Jamestown, ND Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/literatr/aprs/index.htm. Accessed December 4, 2007.Google Scholar
[APRS] Alien Plants Ranking System Implementation Team 2001. Alien Plants Ranking System. Version 7.1. Flagstaff, AZ Southwest Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse http://sbsc.wr.usgs.gov/research/projects/swepic/aprs/ranking.asp. Accessed December 4, 2007.Google Scholar
Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service 1991. Plant Invasions: The Incidence of Environmental Weeds in Australia. Kowari 2. Canberra, Australia Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. Canberra. 188.Google Scholar
[AZ-WIPWG] Arizona Wildland Invasive Plant Working Group 2005. Invasive nonnative plants that threaten wildlands in Arizona. Flagstaff, AZ Arizona Wildland Invasive Plant Working Group. 23. http://www.swvma.org/invasivenonnativeplantsthatthreatenwildlandsinarizona.html. Acessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Bailey, R. G. 1995. Description of the Ecoregions of the United States. Washington, DC U.S. Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication Number 1391. 108.Google Scholar
Belnap, J. and Phillips, S. L. 2001. Soil biotia in an ungrazed grassland: response to annual grass (Bromus tectorum) invasion. Ecol. Applications 11/5:12611275.Google Scholar
Biosecurity Australia 2003. The Weed Risk Assessment System. http://www.daff.gov.au/ba/reviews/weeds/system. Accessed December 4, 2007.Google Scholar
Bowen, B. and Shea, A. 1996. Exotic pest plants in Tennessee: threats to our native ecosystems. Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council News. Fall (Special Insert) 14.Google Scholar
Bratton, S. P. 1982. The effects of exotic plant and animal species on nature preserves. Nat. Areas J. 2/3:313.Google Scholar
Brown, D., Reichenbacher, F., and Franson, S. 1998. A Classification of North American Biotic Communities. Salt Lake City, UT University of Utah Press. 141.Google Scholar
Brown, D. E. 1994. Biotic Communities: Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. (Plus companion map, Biotic Communities of the Southwest.). Salt Lake City, UT University of Utah Press. 342.Google Scholar
[Cal-IPC] California Invasive Plant Council 2006. California Invasive Plant Inventory. Cal-IPC Publication 2006-02. Berkeley, California California Invasive Plant Council. 39. http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/inventory/index.php. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Carr, G. W., Yugovic, J. V., and Robinson, K. E. 1992. Environmental Weed Invasions in Victoria: Conservation and Management Implications. East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Victoria Department of Conservation and Environment. 78.Google Scholar
Champion, P. D. and Clayton, J. S. 2001. A weed risk assessment model for aquatic weeds in New Zealand. Pages 194202. in Groves, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
Connecticut Invasive Plant Council Connecticut Invasive Plant List. 2004. January 2004. http://nbii-nin.ciesin.columbia.edu/ipane/ctcouncil/CT_Invasive_Plant_List.htm. Accessed October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Cronk, Q. C. B. and Fuller, J. L. 1995. Plant Invaders: The Threat to Natural Ecosystems. London Chapman and Hall. 241.Google Scholar
Deering, R. H. and Vankat, J. L. 1999. Forest colonization and developmental growth of the invasive shrub Lonicera maackii . American Midland Naturalist 141/1:4350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, R. D., Rimer, R., Sperry, L., and Belnap, J. 2001. Exotic plant invasion alters nitrogen dynamics in an arid grassland. Ecol. Appl. 11/5:13011310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council Plant List Committee 2005. List of Florida's Invasive Species. http://www.fleppc.org/list/05List.htm. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Fox, A. M., Gordon, D. R., Dusky, J. A., Tyson, L., and Stocker, R. K. 2000. The story behind the IFAS assessment of nonnative plants in Florida's natural areas. Wildland Weeds 3/4:47.Google Scholar
Fox, A. M., Gordon, D. R., Dusky, J. A., Tyson, L., and Stocker, R. K. 2001. IFAS assessment of nonnative plants in Florida's natural areas. SS-AGR-79. Gainesville, FL Agronomy Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. 25. http://agronomy.ifas.ufl.edu/docs/IFASAssessment2001.pdf. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Gerlach, J. D. Jr 1997. The introduction, dynamics of geographic range expansion, and ecosystem effects of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis). Proc. California Weed Sci. Soc. 49:136141.Google Scholar
Gordon, D. R. 1998. Effects of invasive, non-indigenous plant species on ecosystem processes: lessons from Florida. Ecol. Appl. 8/4:975989.Google Scholar
Gould, A. M. A. and Gorchov, D. L. 2000. Effects of the exotic invasive shrub Lonicera maackii on the survival and fecundity of three species of native annuals. Amer. Midl. Nat. 144:3650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, L. L. and Stuckey, I. H. 1992. Plants invasive in Rhode Island. Rhode Island Wild Plant Society Newsletter 6/2:17.Google Scholar
Grossman, D. H., Faber-Langendoen, D., Weakley, A. S., Anderson, M., Bourgeron, P., Crawford, R., Goodin, K., Landaal, S., Metzler, K., Patterson, K., Pyne, M., Reid, M., and Sneddon, L. 1998. International Classification of Ecological Communities: Terrestrial Vegetation of the United States, Volume I—The National Vegetation Classification System: Development, Status, and Applications. Arlington, VA The Nature Conservancy. 126.Google Scholar
Groves, C. R. 2003. Drafting a Conservation Blueprint. Washington, DC Island Press. 457.Google Scholar
Hartman, K. M. and McCarthy, B. C. 2007. A dendro-ecological study of forest overstory productivity following the invasion of the non-indigenous shrub Lonicera maackii . Appl. Veg. Sci. 10:314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heffernan, K. E., Coulling, P. P., Townsend, J. F., and Hutto, C. J. 2001. Ranking Invasive Exotic Plant Species in Virginia. Natural Heritage Technical Report 01-13. Richmond, VA Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. 144. http://www.dcr.state.va.us/dnh/rankinv.pdf. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Henderson, L. 1995. Plant Invaders of Southern Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 5. Pretoria, South Africa Plant Protection Research Institute–Agricultural Research Council. 177.Google Scholar
Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. Berkeley, CA University of California Press. 1400.Google Scholar
Hiebert, R. D. 1997. Prioritizing invasive plants and planning for management. Pages 195212. in Luken, J., Theiret, J., eds. Assessment and Management of Plant Invasions. New York Springer.Google Scholar
Hiebert, R. and Klick, K. 1988. Exotic plant species ranking system. Nat. Areas J. 8/2:121.Google Scholar
Hiebert, R. D. and Stubbendieck, J. 1993. Handbook for Ranking Exotic Plants for Management and Control. U.S. National Park Service Natural Resources Report NPS/NRMWRO/NRR – 93/08. 29 p.Google Scholar
Hiebert, R. D. and Stubbendieck, J. 2007. Alien Plants Ranking System Version 5.1. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/literatr/aprs/index.htm. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Hobbs, R. J. and Mooney, H. A. 1998. Broadening the extinction debate: population deletions and additions in California and Western Australia. Conserv. Biol. 12/2:271283.Google Scholar
Humphries, S. E., Groves, R. H., and Mitchell, D. S. 1991. Plant invasions of Australian ecosystems: a status review and management directions. Pages 1134. in Walton, D. W., Reville, B., George, A. Jr., Just, J., Forbes, M., Fagg, M., and Longmore, R. (eds.). Kowari 2, Part I. Canberra, Australia Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service.Google Scholar
Huston, M. A. 1994. Biological Diversity: The Coexistence of Species on Changing Landscapes. Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press. 681.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, T. F. and Vankat, J. L. 1997. Invasibility and effects of Amur honeysuckle in southwestern Ohio forests. Conserv. Biol. 11/5:11171124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kartesz, J. T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 1st ed. in Kartesz, J.T., Meacham, C.A., eds. Synthesis of the North American Flora. Version 1.0. Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina Botanical Garden.Google Scholar
Luken, J. O. and Goessling, N. 1994. Seedling distribution and the potential persistence of the exotic shrub Lonicera maackii in fragmented forests. Am. Midl. Nat. 133:124130.Google Scholar
Luken, J. O. and Mattimiro, D. T. 1991. Habitat-specific resilience of the invasive shrub Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) during repeated clipping. Ecol. Appl. 1:104109.Google Scholar
Maddox, D. M., Mayfield, A., and Poritz, N. H. 1985. Distribution of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and Russian knapweed (Centaurea repens). Weed Sci. 33/3:315327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehrhoff, L. J., Metzler, K. J., and Corrigan, E. E. 2003. Nonnative and Potentially Invasive Vascular Plants in Connecticut. Storrs, CT Center for Conservation and Biodiversity, University of Connecticut, Storrs http://www.hort.uconn.edu/CIPWG/pdf/list03.pdf. Accessed December 4, 2007.Google Scholar
Melgoza, G., Nowak, R. S., and Tausch, R. J. 1990. Soil water exploitation after fire: competition between Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) and two native species. Oecologia 83:713.Google Scholar
Morse, L. E., Swearingen, J. M., and Randall, J. M. 1999. Defining a native plant. Pages 1214. in. Roadside Use of Native Plants. Washington, DC Federal Highway Administration, publ. FHWA-EP-99-014.Google Scholar
Morse, L. E., Randall, J. M., Benton, N., Hiebert, R., and Lu, S. 2004. An Invasive Species Assessment Protocol: Evaluating Nonnative Plants for their Impact on Biodiversity. Version 1. Arlington, VA NatureServe. 40. http://www.natureserve.org/getData/plantData.jsp.Google Scholar
National Invasive Species Council 2001. Meeting the Invasive Species Challenge: National Invasive Species Management Plan. http://www.invasivespecies.gov/council/nmp.shtml. Accessed October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E., Wikramanayake, E. D., Burgess, N. D., Powell, G. V. N., Underwood, E. C., D'Amico, J. A., Itoua, I., Strand, H. E., Morrison, J. C., Loucks, C. J., Allnutt, T. F., Ricketts, T. H., Kura, Y., Lamoureaux, J. F., Wettengel, W. W., Hedao, P., and Kassem, K. R. 2001. Terrestrial ecoregions of the world: a new map of life on earth. BioScience 51:933938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orr, R. 2003. Generic nonindigenous aquatic organisms risk analysis review process. Pages 415438. in Ruiz, G.M., Carlton, J.M., eds. Invasive Species: Vectors and Management Strategies. London Island Press.Google Scholar
Orr, R. L., Cohen, S. D., and Griffin, R. L. 1993. Generic nonindigenous pest risk assessment process (for estimating pest risk associated with the introduction of nonindigenous organisms). Riverdale, MD U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (internal report).Google Scholar
Owen, S. J. 1996. Ecological weeds on conservation land in New Zealand: a database. http://www.hear.org/weedlists/other_areas/nz/nzecoweeds.htm. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Panetta, F. D., Mackey, A. P., Virtue, J. G., and Groves, R. H. 2001. Weed risk assessment: core issues and future directions. Pages 231240. in Groves, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
Parker, I. M., Simberloff, D., Lonsdale, W. M., Goodell, K., Wonham, M., Kareiva, P. M., Williamson, M. H., Bon Holle, B., Moyle, P. B., Byers, J. E., and Goldwasser, L. 1999. Impact: toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders. Biol. Invasions 1:319.Google Scholar
Pheloung, P. C. 1995. Determining Weed Potential of New Plant Introductions to Australia. A Report on the Development of a Weed Risk Assessment System Commissioned and Endorsed by the Australian Weeds Committee and the Plant Industries Committee. Perth, Western Australia, Australia Agricultural Protection Board.Google Scholar
Pheloung, P. C., Williams, P. A., and Halloy, S. R. 1999. A weed risk assessment model for use as a biosecurity tool evaluating plant introductions. J. Environ. Manag. 57:239251.Google Scholar
Pitcairn, M. J., O'Connell, R. A., and Gendron, J. M. 1998. Yellow starthistle: survey of statewide distribution. Pages 6466. in Woods, D.M., ed. Biological Control Program Annual Summary, 1997. Sacramento, CA California Department of Food and Agriculture, Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services.Google Scholar
Randall, J. M. 1993. Exotic weeds in North American and Hawaiian natural areas: The Nature Conservancy's plan of attack. Pages 159172. in McKnight, B.N., ed. Biological Pollution: The Control and Impact of Invasive Exotic Species. Indianapolis, IN Indiana Academy of Science.Google Scholar
Randall, J. M. 1996. Weed control for the preservation of biodiversity. Weed Technol. 10:370383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Randall, J. M. 1997. Defining weeds of natural areas. Pages 1825. in Luken, J., Theiret, J., eds. Assessment and Management of Plant Invasions. New York Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Randall, J. M., Benton, N., and Morse, L. E. 2001. Categorizing invasive plants: the challenge of rating the weeds already in California. Pages 203216. in Groves, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
Randall, J. M., Morse, L. E., Thunhorst, G. A., and Benton, N. 1996. Criteria for ranking invasive natural area weeds objectively. in. Abstracts 23rd Annual Natural Areas Conference. St. Charles, IL 78.Google Scholar
Randall, J. M., Rejmánek, M., and Hunter, J. C. 1998. Characteristics of the exotic flora of California. Fremontia 26/4:312.Google Scholar
Redford, K. H. 1994. Science and The Nature Conservancy. Nature Conservancy 44/1:15.Google Scholar
Reichard, S., Schuller, R., Isaacson, D., Whiteaker, L., Kruckeburg, A., Kagan, J., Chappell, C., and Old, R. 1997. Nonnative Pest Plants of Greatest Concern in Oregon and Washington as of August 1997. Redmond, OR Pacific Northwest Exotic Pest Plant Council. 7.Google Scholar
Reichard, S. H. 2001. The search for patterns that enable prediction of invasion. Pages 1019. in Groves, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
Reichard, S. H. and Hamilton, C. W. 1997. Predicting invasions of woody plants introduced into North America. Conserv. Biol. 11:193203.Google Scholar
Rejmánek, M. 1996. A theory of seed plant invasiveness: the first sketch. Biol. Conserv. 78:171181.Google Scholar
Rejmánek, M. and Richardson, D. M. 1996. What attributes make some plant species more invasive? Ecology 77:16551661.Google Scholar
Rejmánek, M., Richardson, D. M., Barbour, M. G., Crawley, M. J., Hrusa, G. F., Moyle, P. B., Randall, J. M., Simberloff, D., and Williamson, M. 2002. Biological invasions: politics and the discontinuity of ecological terminology. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Am. 83:131133.Google Scholar
Ricciardi, A. and Cohen, J. 2007. The invasiveness of an introduced species does not predict its impact. Biol. Invasions 9:309315.Google Scholar
Richardson, D. M., Pysek, P., Rejmánek, M., Barbour, M. G., Panetta, F. D., and West, C. J. 2000. Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Divers. Distrib. 6:93107.Google Scholar
Robertson, M. P., Villet, M. H., Fairbanks, D. H. K., Henderson, L., Higgins, S. I., Hoffman, J. H., LeMaitre, D. C., Palmer, A. R., Riggs, I., Shackleton, C. M., and Zimmerman, H. G. 2003. A proposed prioritization system for the management of invasive plants in South Africa. S. Afr. J. Sci. 99:3743.Google Scholar
Schmidt, K. A. and Whelan, C. J. 1999. Effects of exotic Lonicera and Rhamnus on songbird nest predation. Conserv. Biol. 13/6:15021506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwegman, J. 1994. Exotics of Illinois forests. Erigenia 13:6567.Google Scholar
Standish, R. J., Robertson, A. W., and Williams, P. A. 2001. The impact of an invasive weed Tradescantia fluminensis on native forest regeneration. J. Appl. Ecol. 38/6:12531263.Google Scholar
Strayer, D. L., Eviner, V. T., Jeschke, J. M., and Pace, M. L. 2006. Understanding the long-term effects of species invasions. Trends Ecol. Evol. 21:645651.Google Scholar
Swarbrick, J. T. and Skarratt, D. B. 1992. The Bushweed Database of Environmental Weeds in Australia. 1st ed. Lawes, Queensland, Australia University of Queensland and Gatton College.Google Scholar
Swearingen, J., Reshetiloff, K., Slattery, B., and Zwicker, S. 2002. Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas. Washington, DC National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 82.Google Scholar
Thorp, J. R. and Lynch, R. 2000. The determination of weeds of national significance. http://www.weeds.org.au/docs/WONS/. Accessed October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Timmins, S. M. and Owen, S. J. 2001. Scary species, superlative sites: assessing weed risk in New Zealand's protected natural areas. Pages 217227. in Grove, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
[USDA APHIS] U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 2004. Weed-Initiated Pest Risk Assessment: Guidelines for Qualitative Assessments. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/weeds/weedsrisk99.html. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
[USDA NRCS] U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service 2000. National Plant Materials Manual. 3rd Edition. Title 190. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/references/npmm.html. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and Virginia Native Plant Society 2003. Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia. http://www.dcr.state.va.us/dnh/invlist.pdf. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Virtue, J., Cunningham, D., Hanson, C., Hosking, J., Miller, I., Panetta, D., Pheloung, P., Randall, R., Timmins, S., Walton, C., Weiss, J., and Williams, P. 2006. National Post-Border Weed Risk Management Protocol. HB 294: 2006. Sydneyand Wellington, AustraliaNew Zealand Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand.Google Scholar
Virtue, J. G., Groves, R. H., and Panetta, F. D. 2001. Towards a system to determine the national significance of weeds in Australia. Pages 124152. in Grove, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
Vitousek, P. M. 1986. Biological invasions and ecosystem properties: can species make a difference? 163176. in Mooney, H.A., Drake, J.A., eds. Ecology of Biological Invasions of North America and Hawaii. New York Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and Sohmer, S. H. 1990. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i. 2 Volumes. Honolulu, HI University of Hawaii Press and Bishop Museum Press. 1853.Google Scholar
Wainger, L. A. and King, D. M. 2001. Priorities for weed risk assessment: using a landscape context to assess indicators of functions, services, and values. Pages 3451. in Grove, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
Warner, P. J., Bossard, C. C., Brooks, M. L., DiTomaso, J. M., Hall, J. A., Howald, A. M., Johnson, D. W., Randall, J. M., Roye, C. L., Ryan, M. M., and Stanton, A. E. 2003. Criteria for categorizing invasive nonnative plants that threaten wildlands. http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/inventory/pdf/Criteria.pdf. Accessed: October 25, 2007.Google Scholar
Webb, C. J., Sykes, W. R., and Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand: Naturalised Dicots, Gymnosperms, Ferns and Fern Allies. Christchurch, New Zealand: Balogh Scientific Books. 1365.Google Scholar
Weiss, J. 1999. Assessment for Invasive Potential of Victoria's State Prohibited, Priority, and Regional Priority Weeds. Pest Plant Assessment Project. Frankston, Vicotria, Australia Agriculture Victoria. 24.Google Scholar
Western Australia Department of Agriculture 2005. Declared Plants List. http://agspsrv95.agric.wa.gov.au/dps/version02/01_plantsearch.asp. Accessed December 4, 2007.Google Scholar
Whisenant, S. G. 1990. Changing fire frequencies on Idaho's Snake River Plains: ecological and management implications. Pages 410. in McArthur, E.D., Romney, E.V., Smith, S.D., Tueller, P.T., eds. Proceedings: Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Die-off, and Other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management. Washington, DC USDA Forest Service Intermountain Research Station General Technical Report INT-276.Google Scholar
White, D. J., Haber, E., and Keddy, C. 1993. Invasive Plants of Natural Habitats in Canada: An Integrated Review of Wetland and Upland Species and Legislation Governing Their Control. Ottawa, Canada Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, and Canadian Museum of Nature.Google Scholar
Williams, P. A., Nicol, E., and Newfield, M. 2001. Assessing the risk to indigenous biota of plant taxa new to New Zealand. Pages 100116. in Grove, R.H., Panetta, F.D., Virtue, J.G., eds. Weed Risk Assessment. Collingwood, Victoria, Australia CSIRO.Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. 1988. The current state of biological diversity. Pages 318. in Wilson, E.O., Peter, F.M., eds. Biodiversity. Washington, DC National Academy.Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. 1992. The Diversity of Life. Cambridge, MA Belknap Press. 424.Google Scholar
Wilcove, D. S., Rothstein, D., Dubow, J., Phillips, A., and Losos, E. 2000. Leading threats to biodiversity. Pages 239254. in Stein, B.A., Kutner, L.S., Adams, J.S., eds. Precious Heritage: The status of Biodiversity in the United States. New York Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. Gainesville, FL University Press of Florida. 806.Google Scholar