This page for special interest or study on Invasion of Exotic Plants in Waterton Park. We share a complex, interconnected planet with hundreds of thousands of plants. Each of these could be considered a weed in one situation or another. Others are distant relatives so altered by agriculture that they no longer have a place in natural environments. These newcomers and selectively altered invaders thrive in the absence of natural predators, parasites, competitors and disease.
Most exotic species do well in disturbed landscapes.
Once established, they spread and adversely affect native plants and animals. Waterton is also responsible to its neighbours to ensure that noxious species do not spread beyond its boundaries. Reseeding disturbed areas with native plants and maintaining healthy native plant communities by reducing human impact has also been successful. In sensitive areas, where these control methods are difficult to implement, park managers are trying biological control. This involves releasing carefully selected insects that feed only on the targeted species of plant, eg. spotted knapweed.