Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611
Performing Department
Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
Non Technical Summary
This proposal is for funding to continue implementation of the IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas (IFAS Assessment). The IFAS Assessment was developed by the UF/IFAS Invasive Plants Working Group so that Extension faculty could provide consistent recommendations concerning the use of non-native plants. The Assessment and the Working Group were created in response to the growing awareness of the threat posed by non-native invasive species. The primary purpose of the IFAS Assessment is to provide a mechanism to be used within IFAS to develop consistent descriptions of, and recommendations for the use and management of non-native plants in Florida. A great deal of effort has gone into the development of the IFAS Assessment and since it was first implemented over 700 plant species have been assessed. The Assessment has been of enormous value in providing a mechanism by which IFAS Faculty and Extension Professionals (and perhaps others) make decisions on recommendations for use of plants. Plants that are determined not to be invasive at this time can be recommended for various uses with confidence that they will not harm natural areas and, conversely, plants that are determined to be invasive are not now recommended, which aids in the protection of natural areas. For the IFAS Assessment to continue to be useful, new plants need to be assessed, those that received a Conclusion of "Caution: may be recommended but manage to prevent escape" for any zones need to be re-assessed, cultivars need to be assessed using the Infraspecific Taxon Protocol, and the adapted Australian Weed Risk Assessment system (WRA) needs to be used to assess species that have not escaped into Florida's natural areas but which are either recent arrivals to the state or are known to cause problems in areas with similar habitats and climate to Florida, or if there is a proposed or new use for a species that would result in higher propagule pressure. Continuation of the IFAS Assessment will benefit Florida and other areas of the Florida/Caribbean tropical subtropical area by identifying plant species that are invasive and injurious to natural areas and providing information to discourage their dispersal through human activities.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Species that were last assessed with the IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Natural Areas of Florida between July 2008 and June 2011 and received a Conclusion of "Caution: may be recommended but manage to prevent escape" for any zones will be re-assessment as directed by the Assessment. Cultivars, identified by IFAS Extension faculty and representatives of the horticulture industry,that exhibit traits that might reduce invasiveness will be selected and assessed using the Assessment's Infraspecific Taxon Protocol (ITP). Examples include intraspecific taxon of: Lantana camara, Nandina domestica, Ruellia tweediana, and Schefflera actinophylla. It is likely that evaluation of these cultivars will require consultation with groups of experts (as directed in the ITP), and it is anticipated that decisions made as a result of these deliberations will provide additional examples that can be included in the ITP. Of the 50 remaining species that have received the "Use predictive assessment" conclusion, the priority species will be identified and, at least 10 of these species will be assessed using the WRA. Newly revised USDA hardiness zones will be reviewed in relation to IFAS Assessment zones. Additional assessments will be provided for non-native species that are requested for assessment by IFAS Extension faculty and staff. Educational activities will be conducted to inform IFAS Extension personnel of results of the Assessment. The Assessment Web site (http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/assessment/) will be kept current. An Access database that will be created to replace the Excel spreadsheets so that collecting and analyzing data will be more efficient.
Project Methods
If a species is already prohibited by state or federal law no further assessment is needed because the species cannot be recommended for use. All other species are initially evaluated using the Status Assessment and as this is completed, information is organized to provide Results that describe the status of the species for four specific topics: ecological impacts, potential for expanded distribution in Florida, management difficulty, and economic value. These results are reported as scores (for Ecological impacts and Management difficulty) or as a low or high status (for Potential for expanded distribution in Florida and Economic value). From these Results, Conclusions are derived which specify what recommendations can be made about each species. These Conclusions are: Not considered a problem species at this time and may be recommended by IFAS faculty (reassess in 10 years), Caution - may be recommended by IFAS faculty but manage to prevent escape (reassess in 2 years), Invasive and not recommended by IFAS faculty except for any specified and limited use that has been approved by the IFAS Invasive Plants Working Group (reassess in 2 years), Invasive and not recommended by IFAS faculty (reassess in 10 years). If the species has not yet been assessed, the Conclusion is essentially that for a non-invasive species (Not yet assessed: not considered a problem species at this time and may be recommended by IFAS faculty). However, this Conclusion may be changed upon assessment. If species have not escaped into Florida's natural areas but are either recent arrivals to the state or are known to cause problems in areas with similar habitats and climate to Florida, the Status Assessment directs the use of a predictive tool. The Australian Weed Risk Assessment system has been adapted for use in Florida to complete the assessment of such species. The Status Assessment is generally applied at the species level. It is only applied independently to infraspecific taxa (e.g., cultivars, varieties, or sub-species) if these taxa can be clearly distinguished in the field and are not likely to revert. (Throughout the Status Assessment, reference to the species under consideration could also refer to such distinct infraspecific taxa.) Other infraspecific taxa may be proposed for assessment using the Infraspecific Taxon Protocol. This protocol uses the same conclusions as the Status Assessment so even though they are derived differently, the conclusions for these infraspecific taxa are reported in the Conclusions Tables with those for all species evaluated using the Status Assessment. Efforts will include providing Assessment conclusions on the Assessment Web site, providing information via conference presentations, and IFAS publications such as fact sheets, manual and handbooks. Outputs will be evaluated by surveys of county agents.