Course: GFM 103 Exterior Environmental Management

Reading Assignments

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Age-old Debate: Use of Native versus Non-native Plant Materials

Introduced species

An introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental. A list of introduced species is given in a separate article.

The effect of introduced species on natural environments is a controversial subject, and one that has gained much scrutiny by scientists, governments, farmers and others. Invasive species are damaging to the ecosystem they are introduced into, while others have no negative effect and can, in fact, be beneficial, for example as an alternative to pesticides in agriculture.