Christopher Neely here, thinking about the narratives we humans spin as the center of our own worlds.
In his 2001 book Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan proposes that the narrative of humans (the subject) acting on plants (the object) and determining their fate might be backwards. He argues that plants may, in subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways, be using us to advance their own self-interests; that the most successful flora of the modern world have succeeded because of their ability to play to our ideas, desires and needs.
“It makes just as much sense to think of agriculture as something the grasses did to people as a way to conquer the trees,” Pollan writes. This position, the plant’s point of view, colored my perspective while reporting and writing the cover story in this week’s print edition of the Weekly on the pervasive problem of invasive plants in Monterey County.
When I first visited this area, and after I later moved here, I, like many, was placed under a spell by the local flora. I was completely taken by the light, neutral beauty of “pampas” grass, the exotic appearance of ice plants, the intoxicating aromas of eucalyptus and the artistic elegance of French broom. These stood in equal magnificence to the towering redwoods and arresting cypresses. The difference, as I was soon to find out, is the redwoods and cypresses are firmly of this region. The others I mentioned are not only foreign but invasive, slowly swallowing the landscape and threatening the local ecosystem’s ability to sustain itself.
The yardstick for determining a nonnative species is alliteration, Jenna Allred, Santa Lucia Conservancy’s climate change adaptation manager, tells me. If the plant didn’t arrive here via “wings, wind or water” then it’s likely nonnative, and if it’s bullying other native species out of resources, then it’s safe to call it invasive. Humans are almost always the catalyst for the arrival of invasive species.
Of course logic (as well as peer-reviewed research) says humans have been moving plants away from their native habitats for thousands of years, but research also shows that today’s level of invasive domination began with the advent of the Columbian Exchange—the era marked by Christopher Columbus’s arrival to the Americas, permanently linking the New World and Old World. Many invasive species seen in Monterey County were brought here with a purpose, capitalizing on the roles they had already carved out in human life to spread to new frontiers.
As far as we know, the human idea of beauty, and the value we place on it, was the vehicle used by French broom and “pampas” grass to reach North America (“pampas” in quotes because in Monterey County it is actually jubata grass, a close relative). Both species were brought here purely as decorations, in gardens as well as on hats. Then there are the practical plant pair of eucalyptus and ice plants. The former brought here in a failed experiment to solve the Gold Rush’s resulting hardwood shortage, the latter planted by the government to stabilize coastal dunes. Give an invasive plant an inch, and it can take over a landscape.
However, invasive plants are not just annoying to landscape purists; their presence carries significant ecological consequences. Eucalyptus trees cause wildfires to burn hotter and were partially to blame for the 1991 Oakland Firestorm that killed 25 people in the East Bay. French broom similarly means hotter fires, but they, like ice plants, also reprogram the soil to make it hostile toward native species and welcoming to invasives. The most problematic invasives swallow up landscapes and diminish biodiversity—a crucial attribute of a resilient and sustainable ecosystem.
Just as human hands brought these plants here, human hands, and modern ideals of ecosystem sustainability, will be required to manage and diminish their presence. This work is happening across the county, from the estuary in Moss Landing to the hills of Carmel Valley, along the Salinas River to the sand dunes of Carmel Beach.
However, it’s not as easy as pulling weeds and chopping down trees. There are political and ecological complications. But for more on that, you’ll have to read the story, which is on newsstands now. As always, reach out with any thoughts, tips, theses or treatises. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for reading.
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