January 2025 Native Plant News

| Native Plant News

At Wild Ones, we’re dedicated to connecting people and native plants. Our Native Plant News blog delivers the latest stories on native plant conservation, scientific discoveries, and habitat restoration from across the nation. This monthly, volunteer-written, feature is designed to educate, engage, and inspire action—empowering readers to support biodiversity and promote sustainable landscaping with native flora.

Effects of herbicide drift on plant communities

Herbicides are used to control and kill weeds and other undesirable plants. However, herbicide can move through the air or water from where it was applied and land on nearby areas where it was not intended to land (herbicide drift). How much does herbicide drift impact native plants and crops?

One study investigated the effects of glyphosate drift on Brassicaceae species and native prairie plants in North Dakota. They found that even small glyphosate concentrations reduced growth in many native species, with green needlegrass (Nassella viridula) being especially sensitive to drift while western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) were not affected. They concluded that herbicide drift impacts local flora differently and this species’ difference in drift sensitivity could impact plant community dynamics and competitiveness. Researchers in Turkey studied the effect of glyphosate, glufosinate, and indaziflam drift on sunflower crops. While indaziflam did not significantly harm the sunflowers, glufosinate drift reduced sunflower yields in 2018 but not in 2019, and glyphosate drift killed all sunflower plants during both years of the study. These results demonstrated that some types of herbicide drift are more detrimental to plant species than others. Finally, a Japanese study compared herbicide sensitivity in various plant species and concluded that overall plant community sensitivity to herbicides cannot be determined by a single species as different species respond differently to herbicides and that multispecies studies should be done to understand the ecological effects of herbicides.

These studies demonstrated that herbicide drift has the potential to cause significant ecological effects but that the interactions are complex. Further understanding of these effects is important for developing better agricultural practices without harming non-target plants.

Herbicide Effects on Plant Species and Communities | Nature Research Intelligence

The Fungus Among Us

Up to 90% of plants have mycorrhizal fungi that grow in or on the plant’s roots. The fungi and the plant have a mutually beneficial relationship where the fungi receives food from the plant and the fungi helps the plant acquire nutrients and water and provides defense against pathogens and drought. 

Now scientists are using mycorrhizal fungi to help endangered native plant restoration efforts and in ecosystems that have degraded to the point where native mycorrhizae have disappeared. In 1998, Jim Bever, a plant ecologist with the University of Kansas, took soil from a prairie and added it to prairie grass seedlings in experimental plots. The growth that was seen in these seedlings led Bever’s team to try this experiment on larger tracts of land across the Midwest. The experimental efforts have doubled the quantity of prairie grass and tripled their survival rate. Since native soil that contains the amount of mycorrhizae that a remnant, untouched prairie has is so rare, Bever cultures and grows stocks these fungi and currently has around 60 species which are available for land managers, farmers, and private companies involved in restoration efforts. 

However, restoration projects must use native mycorrhizae to benefit the ecosystem being restored. Exotic fungi have contributed to invasive non-native plant invasions, making the soil more hospitable for their exotic partners, boosting the invasive plants’ fitness in its new environment, giving it an advantage against the region’s native plants. Since commercial mycorrhizal inoculants are on the rise, it’s getting harder to track the introduction of non-native fungi. 

Why scientists are enlisting fungi to save endangered plants | Knowable Magazine

The fuel in California’s wildfires: Invasive plants

Southern California originally was predominantly composed of chaparral: short, shrubby plants and perennial grasses which maintained moisture and greenery for most of the year. The natural open gaps in vegetation acted as firebreaks and the rarely occurring fires by infrequent lightning strikes wouldn’t spread far.

Non-native grasses were introduced into California in the 1700s by European settlers and evolved along with livestock grazing and frequent burning. These non-native species outcompeted native species and filled in the natural gaps in the chaparral ecosystem. These grasses are primarily annuals and die back each year, creating a continuously flammable dry, dead vegetation carpet. These dense carpets occur especially along disturbed areas, like roads, which are also where fires frequently start. When these fires start, that continuous carpet of vegetation allows fire to spread quickly. 

Another non-native species contributing to California’s fire problems are eucalyptus trees. Introduced in the mid-19th century, the leaves of this tree are very oily and flammable and the papery bark falls off and blows away, spreading the fire to new locations. These trees are often planted next to houses which adds to the problem. 

Invasive species management to reduce these flammable non-natives and restoring California’s native chaparral ecosystem is necessary to mitigate the region’s fire risk. This involves hand-cutting the non-native grasses found by roadsides consistently and removing eucalyptus trees. Sheep grazing is also being considered as a way to manage grass growth as well as a “BurnBot”: a machine that performs controlled burns by torching anything underneath it, clearing the vegetation and seeds. Fire-proofing homes by creating fire-break spaces and fire-smart landscaping is also advised. 

How Invasive Plants Are Fueling California’s Wildfire Crisis | WIRED

Ohio: Collecting, Sharing, and Promoting Native Plants

Native plant enthusiasts in Ohio have something to celebrate. The bill, HB 364, unanimously passed in the Ohio House in June and the Ohio Senate December 19th allows individuals and conservation and non-profit organizations to collect and share native seed with other groups. 

The Nature Conservancy is one such organization. “Once signed into law, this will have a significant impact on efforts throughout the state to remove invasive plants and replace them with plants native to Ohio, provide more habitat to threatened insects and even help individuals who want to create their own pollinator garden,” said said Mary Turocy, director of policy and government relations for The Nature Conservancy in Ohio.

Ohio Legislature Passes Bill to Help Spread Native Plants

North Carolina: This plant kills birds

Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), originally from Asia, is found in yard landscaping and in gardening centers but it’s having hellish effects on bird populations. This plant’s bright red berries are attractive to birds but they contain cyanide which can be harmful and even deadly. 

Cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum), especially, seem particularly susceptible to this plant’s toxic berries. “A flock of cedar waxwings can strip the fruits from a nandina bush in minutes, but as the fruits are digested, they slowly release cyanide in quantities that overwhelm the birds’ ability to detoxify it,” the North Carolina Botanical Garden wrote. In an area with abundant heavenly bamboo, the quantity of berries that these birds can consume could kill them. Other berry-eating bird species, such as the American robin (Turdus migratorius), northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), and eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis), are also at risk around these plants. The leaves of the heavenly bamboo also contain cyanide. 

The heavenly bamboo can be identified by its bright red berries which grow in a terminal cluster like grapes. As a bamboo, new shoots grow straight up and unbranched from the plant’s crown. The leaves are 1-2 feet long and new growth and fall foliage are red. Experts advise removing this plant by digging it up by its roots and removing any suckers. It can be replaced with bird-friendly native plants like American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), winterberry (Ilex verticillata), and Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) or similar plants native to the region.

Common shrub kills birds in Raleigh, Durham NC each winter | Raleigh News & Observer

Texas: Happy Trails

More native plant species are coming to Austin’s popular Ann & Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. These species include big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), Turk’s cap (Lilium superbum), Gregg’s mistflower (Conoclinium greggii), and Texas lantana (Lantana urticoides).

Planting will be done by the Trail Conservancy, an organization dedicated to protecting and improving the 10 mile trail. “We are planting native grasses and woody species. They have longer roots, they help break up the soil, and they make the area around the hike-and-bike trail and Lady Bird Lake much more resilient,” said Grady Reed, vice president of park operations at the Trail Conservancy. 

More native plants coming to popular Austin trail-KXAN.com

Don’t be Salty

With winter weather comes the use of salts to de-ice the roads. Unfortunately, those road salts often wash into stormwater systems and compromises water quality and health, degrades soils, and harms plants. 

Megan Rippy, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, investigated the effects of salt on plants in stormwater detention basins and whether certain plant species can mitigate salt pollution through phytomediation. This year-long study examined the impacts of road salts on plants, soils, and water quality. “Plants play an important role in green infrastructure performance, but only 1% of plants, known as halophytes, can handle highly saline environments. This makes it important to characterize the threat salts pose to green infrastructure as well as the potential of salt tolerant species to mitigate that threat.” 

Rippy’s research found that basins draining roads had the highest salt concentrations and plants in these basins were stressed. Of the 255 plant species found within these basins, 48 native species had the ability to tolerate high salt conditions; cattails (Typha spp.) exhibiting significantly higher salt tolerance than most species. However, the overall impact these salt-tolerant species had on salt removal was limited. Only 5-6% of salt was removed in a cattail-filled basins: the equivalent of the mass of 1-2 adults and nowhere close to the quantity of salt used on roads and parking lots. These results showed that plants alone can’t help mitigate salt pollution but can play a role in management strategies. 

Study reveals native plants’ role in managing road salt pollution

Gina Bartleson is a member of the Wild Ones Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Area (IA) Chapter.