Environment

Weeds girdle the globe: The marauding march of invasive plant species

Weeds have changed landscapes around the world, but should we be doing anything to stop them?

Dr Andi Horvath

Published 28 September 2015

Episode 351

In this Up Close podcast, plant population specialist Professor Roger Cousens talks about how the spread of undesirable plants, or “weeds”, has dramatically redefined the world’s natural landscapes and coastlines, and what this means for us economically, aesthetically and environmentally.

“If you were to stand on one of Australia’s iconic beaches and instead of looking out to sea, look inland, what you will see is nothing like the landscape that you would have originally seen in Australia. Almost every plant that you can see is an introduced species,” says Professor Cousens.

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