kudzu

[0bleak]

Do any of ya'll in the uk or elsewhere have any major problems with an invasive plant species like we have in the states, particularly in the south?
It's apparently not as big of an issue as I once thought because, as covered in the article, "It was conspicuous even at 65 miles per hour, reducing complex and indecipherable landscape details to one seemingly coherent mass. And because it looked as if it covered everything in sight, few people realized that the vine often fizzled out just behind that roadside screen of green."

The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South

A naturalist cuts through the myths surrounding the invasive plant

www.smithsonianmag.com

 

[luka]

Yes

 

[luka]

Eg Japanese knotweed
Giant hogweed

 

[0bleak]

kudzu, too?
It's weird how I basically forgot about it for so long until moving back to the south a couple of years ago and seeing it everywhere again.

 

[Murphy]

have y’all heard of the .. ‘grey squirrel’ or ‘alien crayfish’?

Controlling the grey squirrel population

The red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, are native to Ireland. They are under threat of local extinction largely due to the presence of the grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, an invasive alien species which was introduced just over 100 years ago in 1911 to county Longford from England.

www.daera-ni.gov.uk

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7bfbe0e5274a7318b9051a/genw0606blai-e-e.pdf

 

[luka]

have y’all heard of the .. ‘grey squirrel’ or ‘alien crayfish’?

Feral World Globalised Ecosystems

Pablo Escobar's Feral Hippos

www.dissensus.com

 

[Murphy]

mad hornets semi-thwarted and French winemakers buying up white wine vineyards

whatever next

The Dudes get permanent UK visas after admitting its better here, in the rain, with the moss and bricks and treeshaggers

 

[Murphy]

Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t for the voice, command of Latin and ecological forces

 

[catalog]

Himalayan balsam but the narrative on that is changing a bit
eg https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/ep14

I like the ornateness of the flowers but people round here pull them up.

I'm told they were brought over originally by the victoriana, to provide colour in greenhouses.

From there, they spread, as they don't require much in the way of root soil, so very suited to milestone grit, which is the main base layer here.

But they've no predator or natural foe. The vics did bring one over, but it failed to thrive in the cold temperatures.

People don't like em cos they ruin the soil for other plants.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Do any of ya'll in the uk or elsewhere have any major problems with an invasive plant species like we have in the states, particularly in the south?
It's apparently not as big of an issue as I once thought because, as covered in the article, "It was conspicuous even at 65 miles per hour, reducing complex and indecipherable landscape details to one seemingly coherent mass. And because it looked as if it covered everything in sight, few people realized that the vine often fizzled out just behind that roadside screen of green."

The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South

A naturalist cuts through the myths surrounding the invasive plant

www.smithsonianmag.com

Grey squirrels, for one thing.

 

[william_kent]

crack squirrels

squirrels hooked on CRACK COCAINE!

 

[Benny Bunter]

We've got a big monk parakeet problem here in Spain. First started noticing them about 4 or 5 years ago and now there's millions of them, can't see how they'll ever get rid of them.

 

[william_kent]

Jimi Hendrix is responsible for any parrot problem we have in the UK

I am not lying

 

[Benny Bunter]

Jimi Hendrix is responsible for any parrot problem we have in the UK

I am not lying

Fake news. It was really Boy George and George Michael who were responsible for this.

 

[yyaldrin]

loads of parakeets in amsterdam as well but it's the rose-ringed parakeet instead of the big monk parakeet. always thought it was a magical sight to have such a tropical looking bird in such a grey northern city.

 

[william_kent]

Fake news. It was really Boy George and George Michael who were responsible for this.

liar

Boy George is only responsible for any handcuffed to a radiator bondage hostage stories you might have heard

George Michael is only responsible for those GHB falling asleep at the wheel stories

Marc Almond loved to whack up cociane and whatever drugs in a syringe, before he frothed at the mouth and twitched on the floor of his converted cathredral, just going to get in there before benny lies

 

[Benny Bunter]

loads of parakeets in amsterdam as well but it's the rose-ringed parakeet instead of the big monk parakeet. always thought it was a magical sight to have such a tropical looking bird in such a grey northern city.

They do look cool but they're actually sky rats

 

[yyaldrin]

They do look cool but they're actually sky rats

how so? i don't think they do much harm? they can be loud when there's a big group of them in a tree i guess?

 

[Benny Bunter]

how so? i don't think they do much harm? they can be loud when there's a big group of them in a tree i guess?

Loads of reasons - competition for food with native species, diseases and apparently they strip trees to make their nests. I think they've tried culling them a few times but it's totally out of hand now.

 

[yyaldrin]

Loads of reasons - competition for food with native species, diseases and apparently they strip trees to make their nests. I think they've tried culling them a few times but it's totally out of hand now.

interesting, they don't have such a bad reputation in the netherlands, unlike other invasive species such as the egyptian goose or the american crayfish.