The Invasion of Our Rockies : Hype or Management Priority ?

About the author: Anna Sher is assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Denver and director of research, herbaria, and records at the Denver Botanic Gardens. 47 We’ve all heard how bad invasive plants are, how they crowd out wildflowers, waste our precious water, and poison our livestock. Scientists in Colorado and Montana made news in science not long ago for presenting evidence that invasive spotted knapweed was releasing toxins into the soil.1 And yet, the cover of a recent issue of Discover magazine read, “Are invasive species really so bad?”2 Closer to home was a feature article in BioScience, “Tiff over tamarisk: Can a nuisance be nice, too?”3 The most inflammatory articles were a series published in the nineties, charging invasion scientists with “nativism” and even Nazism.4 The thesis of these papers is that the recent “hype” over species invasions is misguided at best and, at worst, a symptom of xenophobia.