Matt Fertakos | June 24, 2025

Figure 1. Kudzu (Pueraria montana) was brought to the United States for ornamental purposes, but escaped gardens and now covers landscapes in the Southeastern United States, choking out native species. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Gardening is a pastime enjoyed by millions across the United States. People spend countless hours working to have the showiest, most inviting yards and gardens filling them with ornamental plants from around the world in the process. There is no question that gardening brings us beauty, but could something more sinister be lurking in your yard? Since the beginning of the ornamental plant trade in the United States, plants that have the ability to survive in our climate have been introduced from other regions of the world. Some of these species escape into the surrounding landscape and become invasive, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity (Figure 1). In fact, over half of invasive plants established in the United States were found to have been introduced through the ornamental plant trade [1]. As climate change continues to progress, new species may become more likely to escape your garden with disastrous consequences. 

Figure 2. (A) Invasive plant Beale’s barberry (Mahonia bealei). (Source: Wikimedia Commons). (B) Map showing current and future risk of invasion of Beale’s barberry into the Northeast. Nurseries currently selling the plant are present within both the current and future ranges. (Source: RISCC Management Challenge)

Climate change is altering the environmental conditions of the Northeast, creating opportunities for plants which may be newly able to establish and become invasive. One example is Beale’s barberry (Mahonia bealei), currently invasive in the Southeast, but predicted to have high invasion risk in the Northeast as our climate continues to warm (Figure 2A). These shifts are occurring across hundreds of non-native species. So much so that temperate mixed forests like those in the Northeast are predicted to have an average of 4.5% increase in invasive species by the year 2100 [2]. The human mediated transportation and plantings of non-native plants through the ornamental trade increases the risk of invasion. In fact, Mahonia bealei is currently available for sale in nurseries within areas of future invasion risk (Figure 2B). 

The solution to this problem is to plant native species, which have many advantages over non-native species. These include better supporting biodiversity and the ecosystem services we rely on like pollination or air quality [3], requiring less care like watering, and a decreased likelihood of invasion [4]. Of course, they are also beautiful (Figure 3). Despite these benefits, native species are not spared the impacts of climate change. While some native species will persist within a given area, others will not naturally migrate fast enough to keep up with our changing climate [5] and are at risk of population decline and eventual extinction. Home gardens could serve as stepping stones to help native species migrate from ecologically similar nearby regions to aid in their persistence under changing climatic conditions. 

Figure 3. Example of a beautiful native plant meadow in Sunderland, Massachusetts. (Source: Bethany Bradley).

Here’s how you can help! If you are in the process of landscaping your yard or planting a garden and want to identify climate smart native plant species you can use, check out a new resource released by the Northeast Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) Network. We have assembled state lists of native and near-native plants which are expected to persist under projected hardiness zones by mid-century. Along with the species names, we have included relevant horticultural and aesthetic information for each species so you can narrow down what will work best in your garden! You can find the resource linked here which outlines its use and gives some background information. Happy gardening!

References:

[1] Lehan, N. E., J. R. Murphy, L. P. Thornburn, and B. A. Bradley. 2013. Accidental introductions are an important source of invasive plants in the continental United States. American Journal of Botany 100: 1287-1293 (2013).

[2] Bellard, C., W. Thuiller, B. Leroy, P. Genovesi, M. Bakkenes, and F. Courchamp. Will climate change promote future invasions? Glob Change Biol 19: 3740-3748 (2013). 

[3] Tartaglia, E.S., M.F.J. Aronson. Plant native: comparing biodiversity benefits, ecosystem services provisioning, and plant performance of native and non-native plants in urban horticulture. Urban Ecosystems 27: 2587-2611 (2024).

[4] Simberloff, D., L. Souza, M.A. Nunez, M.N. Barrios-Garcia, and W. Bunn. The natives are restless, but not often and mostly when disturbed. Ecology 93: 598-607 (2012).

[5] Bradley, B.A., E.M. Beaury, B. Gallardo, I. Ibáñez, C. Jarnevich, T.L. Morelli, , et al. Observed and Potential Range Shifts of Native and Nonnative Species with Climate Change. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 55: 23-40 (2024).