Below habitat loss, the invasive plants and animals are identified as the second significant danger to the biodiversity in Yukon. Yukon refers to the Canadian territory that lies in North America. In other North American leadership, a lot of invasive plants are held accountable for habitat destruction, the loss of sustenance resources, and lastly economic damage. Invasive species are referred to as different non-endemic living things such as animals, plants, fungi, or bacteria which also hold contradictory repercussions to their region's environment, social life, the economy, and the overall public well-being, (national ocean services) however not all species that are made known of are invasive. This essay will look at one specific invasive species that is referred to as Kudzu, with the scientific name Pueraria Montana. Pueraria montana is specified as a species of plant within the biological group of Fabaceae. ( The Earth Institute, Columbia University) The species Kudzu is found in the whole of Asia specifically speaking of Japan and most of its neighboring countries as well as other island countries that are below Japan in the Pacific Oceans. With the Philippines being a prime example it is safe to say that this particular species is widely spread out in Asia. The species is also endemic to some countries in the South Pacific region like Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, and containing Australia as well. America was first made known of the vine Kudzu at a Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 which was the first world official fair, where the plant was identified to be beneficial to soil erosion this is why the plant is most typically found within the South America varying between north and west from New York to Texas. Kudzu is frequently known as the “plant that ate the south” and “a mile-minute” considering its rapid overtake of other areas and lands. The semi-wood plant Kudzu has unique properties such as its agile growing tendencies and solid root structure which make it quite an engaging appliance for gardeners, farmers, and managers of the ecosystem.
There have been investigations and analyses through different research to get a wide range of information as to what the actual distinctive uses for Kudzu are. More to the uses other than erosion control, are that Kudzu is a factor in the making of baskets or paper as well as livestock feed. The vine has been recently discovered to contain medical possessions and has been put into effect for battling infections and irritations, along aside other similar conditions. (Invasive Species Initiatives, 2016) Some characteristics of how the plant evolves include growing primarily in the summer season to a foot per day. They then tend to surround trees, houses, and other things found in their environment due to their “structural parasite” characteristics. The kudzu vine is known as a dominant plant that outshines other plants due to its receptiveness to both the drought and the frost. Due to its rapid growth and characteristics of smothering plants and other surroundings, it would take approximately 2 or 3 years for the forests to be fully covered which would destroy the biodiversity efficiency.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
To conclude, managing the growth of the plant is not a straightforward answer, however, there is a way of effectively eradicating it from a specific place which would be to demolish its root structure. However many states have attempted to use herbicides that arose with variable results. This means that to permanently get rid of a kudzu vine can take a long time, approximately taking up to 10 years. The control efforts towards the kudzu plant included both mechanical and chemical ways which were both put into effect ahead of time as early as in 1953 by interest of the US government. As early as 1970, the US government asserted the kudzu plant as a weed due to persistence in its relentless production (Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council). Although there are control efforts in order towards the issue of the kudzu plants, they've only developed from that point due to how kudzu surpasses and covers the endemic plants which then kick off a chain reaction that weakens the ecosystem in the procedure. Kudzu disorganizes the edible chain by menacing the vegetation that the endemic animals value for their habit and sustenance. Furthermore, this species´s particular root structure influences the quantity of water present in the soil, evidently leading to the ecosystem overall.
As we have clearly stated, the vine Kudzu can surpass and overcome other endemic plants, leading to disruption in the overall forested areas. Although this invasive species is largely overrun in South America there are measurements and other limitations in action to help manage the growth of it throughout other places like Indiana. About Purdue University, the increase and persistence in actions such as mowing and gazing towards the pair of castles & goats work as a way of controlling this invasive species, this is because they feed off the kudzu vine, meaning that it would make the plant lose its strengths and gain dominance over the plant. There are certain precautions that one should take while mowing patches of the kudzu plants as they are quite solid tangled vines that obscure different types of hazards. As we adapted before, kudzu evolves quite rapidly, as fast as 30 or 61 centimeters per day. (phys.org 2016) Once the kudzu shapes a cover over the trees and lands, light is blocked from getting through the targeted places so most if not by far of the fundamental plants and trees inevitably perish, unlike only the strong plants and land structures can endure the stifling impacts of a kudzu invasion. Taking into account that, now we can only imagine the amount of harm a kudzu plant can do to sustenance or a simple timber crop. The forest economist Coleman Dangerfield, gauges that for each section of land of timber that kudzu plants overtake, the matching landowner becomes deprived of $48 per section of land every year. Based on plant ecologist James Miller´s calculations, who states that electricity sources invest about 1.5 million dollars each year to control the kudzu plant and retain it from electrical cables and utility posts. That being sufficiently unnerving, there is also the weight of the vine that eradicates the trees and lifts the plant from simple irritation to a genuine wellspring of risk.
Working towards managing the kudzu plants, there is also a wide variety of herbicides that are used in the process whose results would alter from the place of activity and applications. According to Indiana´s Department Of Natural Resources, they propose that the herbicides are to be put into action in the late summer because it's when the plants are greatly prone to convert the chemicals into storage making it more competent. Going back to the chemical approaches to control the kudzu plant, there has been a study that has concluded how long it would take for the herbicides to fully control the vine which is up to 10 years. Furthermore, other ways to kill the roots of the plan include soil solarization which happens in the process of solar heating. Despite the cost, this alternative is very valuable as it sways away from the chemicals used in other options which unintentionally influence its surrounding species. Nevertheless, the most sufficient means of managing the production of the kudzu plant is natural, with wild goats and sheep that devour the vine. The extension of this vine has spread more immensely in the US than in Asia and has taken up to 150,000 lan units every year which means that the growth of this vine in the US is irrepressible. However, there is no evidence leading towards the same struggle for the ecosystem in Asia which would mean that the ecosystem in Asia has been able to get the vine under control.
Stuck on your essay?
