• Treevan 🇦🇺@aussie.zone
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    2 months ago

    Particularly when native is different from indigenous/endemic. It’s a confusing topic with native tending to mean every national plant without acknowledging native in relation to endemic is the same as exotic and non-exotic. There are plenty of “native invasive weeds” that we need to deal with on a daily basis. We’ve talked about provenancing before, an endemic plant from another range is “exotic” to that area it evolved in but genetically is similar but diverse enough to count in the “pub test” (layperson understanding of plants).

    Exotic plants in the urban landscape exist because while an urban landscape is alien; from the soil, to the hydrology, to the wind, to the reflective heat, to the pollution, removing endemic pest/disease pressures gives them a leg up on native plants which means they tend to do better (initially and at the cost of other things). That’s 1800’s to 1980’s urban planning, then we switched to natives, then endemics, and now climate change is like “get fucked”. Back to the drawing board. You’re right, intense study needed.