Thanks to funding from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, MoIP contracted with the Institute of Botanical Training to survey more than 30 designated Missouri Natural Areas in the Ozark Highlands and the Mississippi Lowlands in 2024. These locations were chosen to survey because they harbor high levels of native biodiversity, making the early detection and control of invasive plants especially important. Also, more data about invasive plant abundance, threat of spread, and impacts are needed in both regions. The data contained in the survey will be used to make the MoIP Ranked Assessment of Invasive Plants more complete and more up-to-date. The Institute of Botanical Training also recorded invasive plant data in EDDMapS, an online, national invasive plant mapping system.
MoIP has shared the survey with the owners and managers of the survey sites, including the Missouri Department of Conservation, the National Park Service, the L-A-D Foundation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Forest Service to aid their efforts to control invasives in these areas. View and download the survey here.
