[Pollinator] Exotic species of bees in North America have produced little detectable disruption of native bee communities

[Peter Loring Borst]

On Jun 22, 2011, at 7:48 AM, Betsy Slack wrote:

> Is a Heavenly Bamboo considered to be one of the "exotic plants" that has harmed native bee populations?  If so is it possible that the bumble bees have adapted and now benefit from the flowers of a Heavenly Bamboo?


Invasive plants, in general, do no harm to pollinators and in many case are extremely beneficial for them. The issue of invasive plants is primarily taken up by folks who think that the landscape should stay the same, which it never does. 

There are a few invasive plants that cause serious disruptions to local plant and animal communities, like purple loosestrife. There are many others that are used by native and non-native animals for food and shelter and I see no need to try to root them out. 

On my four acre parcel we have many non-native plants such as mulitflora rose, honeysuckle, russian olive, etc and these benefit bees and other wildlife greatly. Unless an non-native is doing some sort of clear harm, I don't feel the classification "invasive" is particularly useful.

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Peter Loring Borst
128 Lieb Road
Spencer, NY  14883
peterloringborst.com
607 280 4253