OHIO INVASIVE PLANT ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL
Download a PDF of the NEW Revised Assessment Protocol HERE.
NOTE: The OIPC Assessment Protocol Updated June 2020
The OIPC Assessment protocol had only received very minor adjustments since it was first introduced in 2013. After seven years of being used to assess the majority of widely recognized problematic plants in the state and the introduction of invasive plant regulation in Ohio in 2018, it was time for a reassessment of the protocol itself. The Assessment Team was asked by the OIPC Board to carefully review the questions, scoring, and category terminology. The OIPC Board then approved of the updated protocol, which included four substantial changes: (1) The two parts of the original assessment protocol with 22 questions were condensed into a single section of 19 questions; (2) The middle category was renamed Potentially Invasive; (3) all cultivars were considered within the parental species, instead of separately; (4) The maximum number of points was increased to 85. This new protocol will now be used with all new species going forward and over time, for all previously assessed species.
Purpose and Background
Invasive, non-native plantsrepresent a significant environmental and economic problem to natural areasthroughout Ohio. These invaders from other regions, free of local constraints, often outcompete existing native plants and interfere with fundamentalecosystem services. This assessment protocol was developed as an objective, science-based process of identifying invasive, non-native plants that threaten the health and diversity of natural ecosystems in Ohio. Such information is necessary for the removal, containment, or interception of those plants that have escaped or have the potential to escape from places where they have been introduced (intentionally or unintentionally) and subsequently invade natural areas.
This assessment protocol was developed by the Ohio Invasive Plant Council (OIPC), which in 2008 instituted a working group, composed of representatives across Ohio from academia, land management, the nursery industry, governmental agencies, and the interested public, to use scientific data to revise the list of invasive plants for the state of Ohio. The original list was created in 2000, spearheaded by the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves and based largely on input from land managers and others working in natural areas. Given the need to update the list over time and a desire to develop a rigorous and defendable process of identifying Ohio’s invasive plants, the OIPC made this endeavor a major priority. An updated list founded on a science-based process is particularly important to land managers, the nursery community, researchers, and others in the Midwest evaluating invasive plants.
In 2009, the working group first began developing an assessment protocol, based on careful review of the scientific literature, existing protocols from other states and organizations, and input from OIPC members with expertise in relevant areas, especially invasive species research, land management, and the nursery industry. Recognizing that some invasive plants have past and current horticultural importance, the OIPC working group has worked with the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association (ONLA) to ensure that the protocol addresses nursery introductions, especially cultivars (cultivated varieties). This protocol is intended to provide fundamental and realistic determinations of invasiveness, aside from considerations of economic merit or the effectiveness of potential control measures. OIPC does not undertake to regulate the existence, production or introduction of specific non-native plants, leaving those activities instead to appropriate state agencies. OIPC is using this assessment tool to update the list of invasive plants in Ohio and make the updated list available through our website (http://www.oipc.info). Furthermore, OIPC periodically updates the list, recognizing fully that the invasive status of plants may be fluid, as new information becomes available and new introductions are made either intentionally or unintentionally. The assessment protocol was reevaluated and revised in 2019 from a two-step process to a single-step process for greater efficiency.
OIPC is now using this assessment tool to update the list of invasive plants in Ohio and make the updated list available through our website (www.oipc.info). Furthermore, OIPC will periodically update the list, recognizing fully that the invasive status of plants may be fluid, as new information becomes available and new introductions are made either intentionally or unintentionally. The assessment protocol itself should be periodically reevaluated and revised, as new information regarding invasiveness becomes available in the scientific literature.
* The Assessment Protocol
* Policies and Procedures
* Summary of Results
* Schedule of Plants to be Assessed
Revised 6/2/2020
The OIPC Assessment protocol had only received very minor adjustments since it was first introduced in 2013. After seven years of being used to assess the majority of widely recognized problematic plants in the state and the introduction of invasive plant regulation in Ohio in 2018, it was time for a reassessment of the protocol itself. The Assessment Team was asked by the OIPC Board to carefully review the questions, scoring, and category terminology. The OIPC Board then approved of the updated protocol, which included four substantial changes: (1) The two parts of the original assessment protocol with 22 questions were condensed into a single section of 19 questions; (2) The middle category was renamed Potentially Invasive; (3) all cultivars were considered within the parental species, instead of separately; (4) The maximum number of points was increased to 85. This new protocol will now be used with all new species going forward and over time, for all previously assessed species.
Purpose and Background
Invasive, non-native plantsrepresent a significant environmental and economic problem to natural areasthroughout Ohio. These invaders from other regions, free of local constraints, often outcompete existing native plants and interfere with fundamentalecosystem services. This assessment protocol was developed as an objective, science-based process of identifying invasive, non-native plants that threaten the health and diversity of natural ecosystems in Ohio. Such information is necessary for the removal, containment, or interception of those plants that have escaped or have the potential to escape from places where they have been introduced (intentionally or unintentionally) and subsequently invade natural areas.
This assessment protocol was developed by the Ohio Invasive Plant Council (OIPC), which in 2008 instituted a working group, composed of representatives across Ohio from academia, land management, the nursery industry, governmental agencies, and the interested public, to use scientific data to revise the list of invasive plants for the state of Ohio. The original list was created in 2000, spearheaded by the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves and based largely on input from land managers and others working in natural areas. Given the need to update the list over time and a desire to develop a rigorous and defendable process of identifying Ohio’s invasive plants, the OIPC made this endeavor a major priority. An updated list founded on a science-based process is particularly important to land managers, the nursery community, researchers, and others in the Midwest evaluating invasive plants.
In 2009, the working group first began developing an assessment protocol, based on careful review of the scientific literature, existing protocols from other states and organizations, and input from OIPC members with expertise in relevant areas, especially invasive species research, land management, and the nursery industry. Recognizing that some invasive plants have past and current horticultural importance, the OIPC working group has worked with the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association (ONLA) to ensure that the protocol addresses nursery introductions, especially cultivars (cultivated varieties). This protocol is intended to provide fundamental and realistic determinations of invasiveness, aside from considerations of economic merit or the effectiveness of potential control measures. OIPC does not undertake to regulate the existence, production or introduction of specific non-native plants, leaving those activities instead to appropriate state agencies. OIPC is using this assessment tool to update the list of invasive plants in Ohio and make the updated list available through our website (http://www.oipc.info). Furthermore, OIPC periodically updates the list, recognizing fully that the invasive status of plants may be fluid, as new information becomes available and new introductions are made either intentionally or unintentionally. The assessment protocol was reevaluated and revised in 2019 from a two-step process to a single-step process for greater efficiency.
OIPC is now using this assessment tool to update the list of invasive plants in Ohio and make the updated list available through our website (www.oipc.info). Furthermore, OIPC will periodically update the list, recognizing fully that the invasive status of plants may be fluid, as new information becomes available and new introductions are made either intentionally or unintentionally. The assessment protocol itself should be periodically reevaluated and revised, as new information regarding invasiveness becomes available in the scientific literature.
* The Assessment Protocol
* Policies and Procedures
* Summary of Results
* Schedule of Plants to be Assessed
Revised 6/2/2020