Bad Seeds. Part 1

these are jewels of the california state park system straddling the coast between la and ensure counties to preserve some of the world's rarest habitats at least that's what it's supposed to do and this summer morning ecologist christie brigitte nielsen is standing next to the pacific coast highway she examines the butter yellow flowers and primrose and other low growing plants the fanfare and habitat are very unusual and they have a beautiful wide range of native wildflowers and there's no way you can see the invading hordes right on the horizon we're staring at a whole swath of grass that's moving downhill right towards us and as you look up there were about where the founder us is very dense you can see there's nothing else in there that it's overtaking this habitat felton grasses a billy garden plant talked with plumes resemble england for scales it's native to north africa

in california it's seed blows out of gardens and high tails into wild lands and falco grasses content to were affecting even the most forbidding places such as dry rock faces some three hundred non native plants have taken root in the santa monica mountains more subtle and discreetly but about twenty are causing significant problems according to christi brigham with the national park service these super weeds are known as invasive clients written what is a black and white spotted butterfly landed a lazy reporting for being a flower but as she thumbs through the dense thickets of grass she doesn't fart a single insect most of the natives were looking at here are not grasses their wildflowers or shrubs that have flowers that are offering a lot to insects and germs of pollen and nectar as opposed to these grass flowers or nothing ortiz is a low quality high volume they don't like at all

and that's one of the promise that we have with these invasive ones that are really problematic animals don't eat them an insect don't eat them and that makes them better able to survive but even worse habitat and found grass makes wild lands more fire prone it helps fires ignite in spread more easily in this state unique and vanishing states crab habitat carl bell is an invasive plant expert and then because the grasses recover much quicker and much more successfully than a native shrubs you can get repeat buyers over time it just eliminates most of the coastal states europe species and you wind up with a grand slam eradicating invasive plants is labor intensive it can take years of repeat weeding and careful application of pesticides doug johnson of the nonprofit california invasive plant council estimates part agencies spent more than eighty million dollars a year just to keep some of the worst wheat in track

although the plant was really a drop in the bucket the photographs at point a group continues to spread because the state doesn't have the money to control that many scientists say invasive plants are the number two threat to california wild lands second only to outright habitat destruction and yet felt their grass ice plant perry wiggle and a couple dozen other invasive plants are readily available there for sale at local nurseries tomorrow we'll explore was and pointed his state park there's a cent sales at nine point three kpcc it's