Will Australia's Dinosaur Tree Take Over Britain?

[@LeaveCurious]

Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 150 people to join Planet Wild with my code CURIOUS1 will get the first month for free at planetwild.com/r/leavecurious/join/1

[@stephenlangsl67]

I live in Durham, North Carolina and would like to know where I can get Wollemi Pine Tree seeds.

[@Axobattler]

I love Planet Wild They are amazing I also love wollemi pines, so I don't appreciate the clickbait

[@johntimbrell]

I happen to agree with the ethos of Planet Wild but there is a possible downside. The Globalist agenda includes reducing the population and rewilding. Their proposed methods are evil as already being demonstrated by the spread of human pathogens. Planet Wild should be aware of this. Then again we have what many believe as man causing global warming. I am not proposing a solution but just adding facts to the already complicated Plant Wild's aims.

[@Christian-jz3xt]

Ancient Clickbait titles

[@insAneTunA]

I am going to say goodbye to your channel. Restoring ecosystems and introducing nonnative plant and tree species is a contradiction, and you continue to push that false narrative that introducing nonnative species is just fine. While at the same time your friends from mossy earth are fighting the nonnative species. And you are allowing it to happen that people post the most awful replies to comments. Take a look at one of the replies to my other comment that I posted in reply to your video, that is if it is still there, because I reported that reply to my comment to yt. So I am stopping with supporting your channel for the above reasons.

[@Angie-in8wc]

The Ibis, infamously nicknamed “The Bin Chicken” for its nasty habit of eating out of public bins, has developed a brilliant method for dealing with Cane Toads. It picks them up with its long curved beak and bashes the bejeesus out of them on hard surfaces. This forces the toad to expend all its venom. Then the Ibis rinses the toad off in water and eats it. All hail the mighty Bin Chicken! From zero to hero in the Aussie wildlife food chain.

[@Felix-s9z7i]

They are still stuffing their beaks on my strawberries in Sydney, they need a relocation program to toad central, the Gold Coast, woops that's Botox central...

[@somesortofdeliciousbiscuit3704]

That's innovative! Like corvids that can flip the toads on their back and eat them from their belly where venom glands aren't present.

[@ozyrob1]

I had no idea. Thanks for the informative and interesting story. 😊

[@robinbinder8658]

* this post was made by the binchicken mafia *

[@ellenrittgers990]

Bin Chicken - I Love It!

[@scpatl4now]

As someone who lives in the SE US, the biggest invasive plant is Kudzu. It grows so fast it can swallow a house in one season. You can also add english ivy to that. It grows up trees and kills them just like Kudzu. You can dig it up but you'll most likely not kill it and it will come back later

[@09conrado]

Funny that Ivy here in Europe does climb up trees, but doesn't kill them?

[@Axobattler]

Which is weird considering how pretty much anything can eat it

[@scpatl4now]

@@Axobattler Shit grows a foot in one day 😱😱😱 That's a whole lotta goats

[@Axobattler]

@scpatl4now not just goats Herbivorous insects Oh right, the pesticides

[@zachwak]

@@09conrado English ivy killed a huge southern yellow pine tree in my yard! in just a year. Im in North Carolina

[@ArisaemaDracontium]

As someone who has been managing invasive plants for over 30 years, I think you nailed the bit about how it is human degradation of woodlands (or any habitat) that makes them susceptible to invasion. This critical point is most often missed. Kudos.

[@TheMonaro]

Really? Here's just one example. St Johns Wart is invading Canberra and South East NSW. Local landholders pleaded the water catchment authority to manage it 20 years go. It had also got into the Kosciuszko National Park. Both "wild" areas were left to be wild spraying totally off the table. Now with some farmers and hobby farmers who are rewilding ie doing nothing.... Well let me ask you two questions. Does a wombat dig a borrow ie disturbed soil and can a Wombat (and Kangaroo) eat St John's wart or will it be poisoned by too much of it like sheep, cows and horses are? My educated guess is both animals ignore it so it spreads well without sheep, cows and horses eating it. Sooner or later St Johns Wart will be all they really have to eat in a drought.. Re wilding is nothing but living in denial regarding the consequences of globalisation and because of this re wilding is the worst thing you can do. Blackberry bushes in Kosciuszko National Park are rewilding themselves across entire ecosystems and people need to take responsibility and the wild areas around here exceed UN recommendations of 30%... They are still in trouble. My job today like anytime I've had off for the last 6 weeks is managing weeds. Last year was six weeks solid and it's my fathers farm. He does 3 months. We would have most things beat except for our re wilding neighbours who do nothing. Our cultivated paddocks are damned near immaculate. The wild downs where we can not get large scale equipment is where the problem is. My hope is AI and drones... new weeds coming in As mentioned St Johns Wart It is native to temperate regions across Eurasia and North Africa. Can not be contained Nodding Thistle is native to regions of Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa has blown in from the "re wilding" hobby blocks around 20-30 k away around Lake Ecumbene. Hard to contain. Nut or Umbrella Sedge. is native to the West Coast of North America from California to Washington, the Southeastern United States, Jamaica, and South America. Really likes council/state roads disturbed or not. Can not be contained African Love Grass is native to southern Africa. Can not be contained. These are the plants that have introduced themselves to my region since I graduated from high school in 1992 and this will happen globally eventually re wilding will make this worse without people getting over their desire to turn re wilded area into an over priced Air BnB for maximum profit with no perceived responsibility because in the global world of 2025 there is no such thing as wild. I can not beat African Love Grass and Nut Sedge but if I let the rest go there would be virtually nothing left for most of the native species disturbed or not... Now you have "managed weeds" for 30 years. I respect that. The problem is "re wilding" suggests hands off. It is naive and irresponsible. Even Peter Andrews in "Back from the Brink" slashed his thistles. The problem is for example the lazy land bankers who do nothing and use re wilding as an excuse to do nothing or people who replant trees and do nothing using the nostalgic virtue signalling of "re wilding" as an excuse to do nothing. In 2011-12 I travelled 4000k by car from Canberra to Perth and saw, with horror, regular patches of African Lovegrass on the side of the road along 75% of the route. With African Lovegrass I give it 30 years before it dominates most of this country not able to be tilled... I think Scottsdale Reserve recently plowed their "re wilding" grassland to kill the Lovegrass. The urban re wilding hippies here have finally worked it out can you? Keep doing whatever you can but re wilding?? don't kid yourself or the environment.

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

@@TheMonaro I really like your idea of AI and drones to control invasive plants. 👍

[@thevocalcrone]

@@TheMonaro What a depressing picture you paint (and realistic). Our 'leaders' do not learn from the past, why have we got all these introduced species? did they not learn from prickly pear and cane toads? wtf is wrong with them?

[@alexcarter8807]

It's nice to hear giant sequoias are living happily in Britain. For some reason starlings, which I understand are decreasing in Britain, are all over the place in the US. We can really spare a few million of 'em if you guys are interested.

[@glenmorrison8080]

You can thank Shakespeare fans for the Starlings in North America. Over a century ago a society of Shakespeare fans attempted to establish every bird mentioned in his works. Most did not take, but the Starlings REALLY DID.

[@jimjiminy5836]

@@glenmorrison8080excellent fact.

[@partysuvius]

@@glenmorrison8080they’re able to be legally killed and hunted and you can keep their feathers.

[@farnthboy]

Australia can top up numbers if needed - plenty here as well.

[@11235but]

The Wollemi pines in nature were seriously threatened in the massive 2020 fires in Australia and firefighters were sent in to protect them. The fires were suppressed literally a few tens of metres from them. If they hadn’t been discovered a few decades ago they likely would have burnt and been wiped out.

[@planterbanter]

As an Aussie, the Wollemi pine is one of my all-time favourite trees!

[@billybobwombat2231]

Bunyas are mighty cool too

[@raclark2730]

Yes the other Australian pines Araucaria sp, are also very ancient.

[@billybobwombat2231]

@raclark2730 Agathis too 🦘

[@raclark2730]

@@billybobwombat2231 Yes can't forget the Agathis.

[@geradkavanagh8240]

@@raclark2730 I remember doing a survey near Mount Larcom QLD. Huge rocky scree slopes and only trees growing were the QLD Kauri pines. (Agathis robusta). Some were over a metre in diameter. Absolutely isolated by the scree so loggers never got to them.

[@BrentHollett]

"As normal as having camels roam around our landscape" Australians over here feeling seen. Then you introduced the cane toad. "Stop looking! Stop looking!" Note that some Ibis has developed a method of eating the cane toads.

[@Axobattler]

So have ravens and magpies

[@niamhfox9559]

Have you see those bucket traps that work with cane toad tadpoles tendency to cannibalise fellow tadpoles? It can fill the bucket in a couple of HOURS. (Gardening Aus has a video on them)

[@raclark2730]

Yes they are washing and soaking toads to remove the poison. Hears to the Bin Chickens. 🍻

[@CitizenAyellowblue]

...and Hydromys, a native water rat.

[@alexcarter8807]

I'm pretty sure the cane toads are OK for people to eat, just eat the legs, skinned. The poison isn't everywhere, it's mainly in the skin and I believe only around the poison glands on the neck. We used to play with them when I was a kid in Hawaii - we just washed our hands afterwards.

[@TheSilkwoodCentre]

It's about time BBC or Netflix gave you a contract so you could tell everyone what you tell us x

[@LeaveCurious]

One show here I come...

[@garyo8481]

@@LeaveCurious they wouldn't deserve you. also, they covered up saville

[@lisadolan689]

@@garyo8481not an appropriate comment in this context 😐

[@CapraObscura]

​@@lisadolan689 I think it's a reasonable comment... The BBC is extremely troublesome and netflix is overly woke and race swap many characters for views. They should never be spoken in a good light and don't deserve an honest, good man

[@russellcrosby8175]

Aye, but, the one show is not appropriate language anywhere on you tube! Let's hear the man think.

[@ianstobie]

Eucalyptus, native to Australia, have proved particularly dangerous when introduced elsewhere. Like pine trees, they are highly inflammable and this forms part of their reproductive strategy. But they have a few tricks that pines lack. The litter that forms below them, consisting mostly of discarded leaves and bark, contains a natural fungicide that causes this litter to break down very slowly. So it piles up. During forest fires this litter blows around and helps spread the fire far around. Introduced Eucalyptus has been blamed for worsening forest fires particularly in Portugal and parts of the USA.

[@williamarmstrong8337]

In parts of with America too particularly Ecuador

[@Kalithrasis]

The worst invasive here in California are the non-native annual grasses from Europe that make California's summer hills golden. They have helped to push out native bunch grasslands to the margins. Our hills would be a sort of dull green in summer if the annual grasses hadn't arrived. The grasses also make it hard for a lot of native annual flowers to thrive (although sky lupine and california poppy are able to compete). These grasses also contribute to making wildfires worse. Ranchers on the other hand would insist that the grasses are good, but they farm European animals, so of course they'd say that.

[@raclark2730]

Hawaii has the same problem with fire and invasive grasses. Keep seeing it in footage of the place. Its only a small land area. Makes me livid that they do not seem to be doing anything about it, when will people learn.

[@raclark2730]

Has anyone tried to use the native grass in grazing. I am in Australia and some of our native grass can be used for such.

[@Solstice261]

Yeah but sadly there is no getting rit of that given that they were introduced for pasture and are still used like that

[@Solstice261]

​@@raclark2730yeah, it works for some species but not the typical high production heifer those need the European grass to reach the level of productivity farmers want and as we all know, god forbid using the appropriate breed for each environment

[@raclark2730]

@@Solstice261 Yes breed and production type is a factor, Australia mostly has hardy Brahman cattle, they don't have a lot of needs compared to others.

[@julian.morgan]

Re grey squirrels - the solution is pine martens. It's fascinating that because red squirrels evolved with pine martens they're pretty good at evading them - grey squirrels are clueless and easy pickings. If Victorian game keepers hadn't slaughtered any and all competing predators the pine marten would probably have severely restricted the spread of grey squirrels.

[@johnrobdoyle]

The once rare Pine marten is now widely distributed throughout Ireland and is now common in many areas, courtesy of the grey squirrels, people leaving food for pets and birds in their back gardens, and the EU bans on many poisons. There has been a dramatic decline in grey squirrel populations in the midlands of Ireland. Mustelids such badgers, otters,and pine martens, are very adaptable and will do well, when people leave them alone.

[@StuffandThings_]

Honestly the "dinosaur" aspect of this particular plant is a bit overhyped. The entire family of Araucariaceae is extremely ancient, and while the Wollemi pine _might_ be a slightly older lineage (and probably basal to the genus Agathis) its a pretty minimal difference. Agathis australis, the Kauri, is also extremely ancient and fossilized remains in New Zealand date back over 80 million years. Araucaria is also quite ancient, though its gone through enough adaptive radiation that IDK what I'd declare as the most "ancient" of these. There are quite a few very ancient conifer (and even a handful of angiosperm) lineages, Ginkgo, Sciadopitys, Amborella, Cunninghamia, Cycas, and most of the older podocarp lineages come to mind. I mean no doubt its a very cool plant that's been around a long time (and its part of what got me into botany in the first place) but I always find it funny when people describe it as like, _THE_ dinosaur tree as if its the only relict plant on Earth. I think the rarity and story behind it have generated a lot of hype.

[@poppedweasel]

You have a point

[@DaveG-rs3xp]

Cycads are also sold as dinosaur food but most of the living genera in Zamiaceae and the clades within Cycas are part of a Neogene radiation. Yes, botany is utterly cool and fascinating. I remember the buzz when Wollemia was first found. An Aussie dawn redwood. 🪴🌴

[@StuffandThings_]

@ Yeah, I'm aware of the whole cycad radiation thing. Bowenia is still a late Mesozoic holdover though, and some Cycas at least visually appear to have some more ancestral traits. Plus, while lots of the details are new, the overall form particularly of Cycas is _exceedingly_ ancient and recognizable relatives go all the way back to the Permian. I'd still call them relict genre on par with many of the others. Sometimes they're sold as "dinosaur food" but definitely don't get quite the same hype for their age, and I've seen them more often just referred to as like palm alternatives. Cycas in particular is very underrated, most people only seem to care about the highly collectible Encephalartos and occasionally Dioon.

[@_asantesana_squashbanana_]

You're still mad about the Pavlova and Lamingtons aren't you ya lil hobbit ? 😂

[@Purwapada]

@@DaveG-rs3xp Dioon can be traced back the the Jurassic

[@overworlder]

what we don't know is that at a 100 years old they grow three stumpy legs and a big poisonous whip thing at the top

[@quirk66]

And of course the oil they produce is highly valuable and makes for extremely efficient fuel

[@JB-re6lx]

I always thought they look triffid-like 😜

[@taylorhillard4868]

Probably one of my favorite stories of relocating species to non native environments is the American Cactus Moth. Mostly just because its the only story with a good ending and proper thought put into its introduction. A while ago, the Pickly Pear cactus was introduced to Australia and became a classic nightmare of an invasive species. Completely covered huge swaths of the country and was a huge problem to try and remove due to how easily peices of it could propagate, and also the fact that it had two different kinds of spines that made it hard to handle (both the long traditional cactus spines as well as the tiny glochnid spines that feel like fiberglass splinters) So to combat this, they introduced the american cactus moth, whose caterpillar stage naturally feeds on the cactus. Within very little time the moth populations exploded and whittled the prickly pears down to a fraction of what they were before. And there were basically no negative downsides to the introduction because 1) the cactus moth larvae can (currently) only feed on cactus species. Since most moths and butterfly species only lay eggs on species specific host plants, it is much less likely than most other animals to switch to feeding on some other plant. And 2) because there are no cactus species native to Australia, there was no forseeable extended impact to any of Australias native plants. Cactus are exclusively native to the Americas, there are no old world cactus species. There are other families of plants that have evolved similar niches in other parts of the world like some in the family Euphorbia, Crassula, Sedum, et cetera, but true cactus are only native to north, south, and central America. The reason I like this story is because not only did it have a happy ending, it was also very predictable in its outcome, just like all of the other introduced species. It stands as a reminder to simply think before doing, because you dont need a crystal ball to figure out that a giant poisonous toad that no predator can eat is going to be a problem when you introduce it to a non-native location.

[@christopherwebber3804]

love its scientific name... cactoblastus !!!

[@allangibson8494]

Russian Thistle (Tumbleweed) has changed the entire environment in the United States west of the Mississippi, massively raising the fire risk.

[@transvestosaurus878]

Non-native: Biryani Invasive: McDonalds

[@noahhosking495]

Here in Victoria Australia we have an interesting example of the opposite of this where a native species has become invasive due to a number of factors. In the last few decades sugar gliders (which are an awesome Australian native species) has been able to spread its populations further and further south. Though there have been some beneficial results from this the main effect on natural ecosystems is the decline in certain fragile high value species of bird such as the swift parrot. It's interesting to think more about how species will interact with each other as ecosystem change progresses, I wonder if this will become more common.

[@jimmux_v0]

Kookaburras are an interesting one. They have a big range across the mainland eastern states, but they're introduced to WA and Tasmania. I love them, but it's hard to ignore how aggressively succesful they have been here in Tas.

[@cjod33]

Ecosystems are dynamic. Change is what keeps things adapting etc.

[@Senthiuz]

In the US, Eastern Red Cedar is native and considered invasive. Prior to humans, it was controlled by wildfires, as the tree is very flammable. It also tends to swiftly fill open areas on the edge of forests. Human land clearing and stopping wildfires have let its population explode.

[@jowi_]

i think my favourite non native species in germany are the small populations of amazon parrots in southern german citys and the nandus (rhea) in the northern german plaines

[@sIightIybored]

Similar in the UK, we have feral Parrots and Wallabies.

[@CricketsBay]

Small populations? I know the video makers are probably exaggerating the numbers to get views and comments, but I just watched a video which made it look like there are 10,000 to 20,000 green parakeets nesting in Frankfurt, Germany year round. And another video that claims there are 5,000 green parakeets nesting in London.

[@Solstice261]

Those are actually invasive, displace local bird populations, luckily they can only live in cities it seems

[@MrToradragon]

@@CricketsBay I think he is referring to population coming from yellow-headed amazon and blue-fronted amazon parrots, that should be present in Stuttgart and possibly other close areas. The parakeets are different story, tho. Now we really need to distinguish whether given specie is dangerous to local ecosystem (sadly that can sometimes be found too late) or whether they are basically harmless and also whether they are or can be endangered in their native area. And if they are (mostly) harmless and especially if they are endangered in their native area, we should take no action against such species.

[@vintagetintrader1062]

As a Nth Queenslander I’ve been dealing with cane toads most of my life. One thing I have found out recently is crows and similar birds have learned to flip the ‘road killed’ toads over and eat the toad out from the belly and leave the poisonous skin. Our freshwater crocks can eat them whole without effect now. Some household dogs lick them to get a natural high then role around in a stupor for hours. Nature learns both good and bad.

[@sokar_rostau]

Can the Freshies eat them without effect now, or without ILL effect? They might be getting just as smashed as the dogs. Freshies are pretty chill as far as these things go, so the idea of them just hanging out on the riverbank tripping balls just ticks all the right boxes. The tourists in the boat see the dangerous prehistoric predators, while the crocs themselves are laying there like Beavis and Butthead chuckling about eating a three-headed human but too stoned to get off the riverbank for a taste.

[@garthreid7114]

Are the toxins hallucinogenic?

[@biekken849]

Japanese knotweed (fallopia japonica) is even more invasive.

[@Neecola88]

Yeah I started noticing it all around, since in past few years I pay more attention to nature, and it is everywhere and I am in Serbia, its crazy that it was brought all the way here

[@Solstice261]

It's basically killing forests doesn't help that the kind of constant control needed to exterminate it is usually not done

[@moons4768]

I regret planting bamboo…very hard to contain.

[@Solstice261]

@moons4768 it's a gras, treat as one, what hurts grasses hurts them and you have to deal with the underground roots if there isn't too much dig it out or contain it in pots since they rarely spread through seeds

[@satyr1349]

I was about to comment on that - worked inside the council on one of the worst affected areas in the UK (A certain zone of Wales). Going as far to see my former boss visit the South American rainforest to try and find an insect which could control its spread. Again someone in the 19th century liked the look of it, the original female plant has proliferated (since it can spread with as little as 1cm piece of its rhizomes) and spread to countless thousands of clones (all female). The damaging aspect is it can grow through foundations of buildings - it's that strong & ofc with no predators moves with ease along our streams and waterways (especially loves disturbed earth).

[@wackywixted]

The introduction of the prickly pear to Australia had a devastating impact, with it quickly choking thousands if not millions of square kilometres of landscape. Fortunately it was rapidly brought back under control by the introduction of its native predator, the cactus moth, and now they keep each other in a comfortable balance with prickly pears few and far between.

[@georgemartinez-vi5yi]

I was at an illustrated talk in Snowdonia (Wales) at which he showed photographs of a fenced off acre of mountain side and it was amazing to see the recovery of the native tree species when protected from the grazing sheep. Perhaps in the past the mountains were forested up to the tree line.

[@cabbagenut]

In the pacific northwest of the USA where I grew up and live, we deal witha number of invasive species, but himalayan blackberry, english ivy, and scotch broom have been on my radar since I was a child. All three were spreading out of control twenty years ago and little has been done to stop them since. But in my heart, I have a bigger fear - the tree of heaven. I've seen it popping up, seemingly doubling every year for the last decade or so all over urban and suburban areas, and its rate of growth is more than alarming. It's like watching a horror movie unfold.

[@southeasternlover]

That Tree is all over Western NY, and it’s only been growing in numbers and its leaves look similar to the Native Black Walnut Tree.

[@Spruce_Bringsteen]

Hopefully you don't have to experience seeing one of them covered in lantern flies.

[@zachwak]

@@southeasternlover Ailanthus altissima?

[@zachwak]

Ailanthus altissima?

[@Spruce_Bringsteen]

gesundheit

[@kerrynball2734]

Wolemi pine doesn't seem that tough. I purchased one for $100 and it didn't last 12 months in Sydney. They're certainly not about to run away anytime here.

[@Fail460]

Really cool hearing you refer to humans as the hyper-keystone species. It puts into perspective how much of an impact and a responsibility we have to make things better, and nothing else can save this planet without us.

[@bernardfinucane2061]

Horse chestnuts are also widespread in Germany and are now getting wiped out by a leaf miner moth.

[@LeaveCurious]

yup they get that here too and also bleeding canker

[@obiwahndagobah9543]

Interestingly this leaf miner moth is a natural enemy of the horse chestnut in its native range. Apparently it is out of control in central and northern europe because the natural enemies of the moth are missing here. Probably there is a specialized parasitic wasp, that is still waiting in the balkans to come over here and feast on the moths.

[@Hortifox_the_gardener]

@@obiwahndagobah9543 - it all ends with trained gorillas that will freeze to death in winter. Those will fix all problems.

[@Memessssss]

Very good that these pines were able to bounce back from less than 100! 👍👍

[@Quercusssss]

By far one of the worst invasives here in Québec is Phragmites. It was planted intentionally by the government along our highways to reduce erosion, and what a mistake... Certain colonies are multiple hectares in size. However, my favorite naturalised being is the dandelion :) Loved and despised by many, it has stoked the passion of millions and is an outstanding example of how an introduced species (including humans) can create a net positive on its surrounding ecosystems.

[@southeasternlover]

The Dandelion is the only Non Native species that seems to contribute to the Ecosystem here in Western NY. I love them.

[@richardwest8382]

Unfortunately I think your talking about phragmites australis.. a species native to australia. It's one of the few species that can stabilise the banks of the Murray River I've heard that it's a problem in North america. Sorry about that

[@allangibson8494]

Dandelion’s are a food crop…

[@Quercusssss]

@@allangibson8494 Indeed, I like to splash some young sprouts in the early Spring into my first fresh salads of the season :)

[@Blue_Skies_Sunflower_Fields]

​@@richardwest8382 You should be ashamed of your species. Shame, shame shame.

[@ChristopherNFP]

As an Australian, I wish the English did not introduce cats, rabbits and mice to Australia. I am sure that England can cope with one comparatively harmless pine tree from Australia.

[@sicpuppy9435]

I work in an Australian maximum security prison, we have a horticulture section where we cultivate from cuttings and seeds and then give the plants away to communities for planting into the landscape, parks and gardens for land regeneration. We did receive some Wollemi pine seedlings from the botanical gardens but we did not have much success and they all died.

[@deatherutts]

There's two snakes in Australia whose in the last 50 60 years have evolved smaller heads eat baby cane toads less poisonous amazing nature will always in time also saw a video about invading African snail and forget what bird but beak grew bigger and bent more to eat these snails

[@thebenefactor6744]

So, is someone gonna plant the dinosaur tree in Scotland and finally cover that naked country up for once?

[@PedroConejo1939]

Buddleia is non-native and considered invasive. A lot of non-native species were spread by 'draughting' along railway lines.

[@howdydoodey3872]

*It should be noted that even native/indigenous trees can be a problem.* In New Zealand it is trendy to plant natives almost anywhere, like a giant kauri as a street plant - for God's sake ! An annoying case in point is the karo tree. Taken from its native location and planted around house sections is a thing. Birds spread the seeds, and soon there are patches of karo everywhere masquerading as native restoration patches.

[@ethandoingstuff1433]

In South East Qld in Aus, we have native vines (monkey rope vine, etc) which needs to be removed from roadsides due to the excess light from a road edge promoting excessive vine growth.

[@GordonChristopherEvans]

I've seen these trees as they were millions of years ago ,where they were buried in layers of silt and fossilized. When I was a Coal miner in the UK we found all sorts of fossilized plant fauna.Every school in the area had some sort of fossil donated. The said tree was found when digging a refuge hole in a mile long tunnel and somebody spent time uncovering a 6 foot section of it ,roots ,trunk and leaves.

[@jarihaukilahti]

if someone did a xray scan as they done with the old scharred papyrus scrolls and use an ai to discover ,maybe even something else on roots trunks, everythig that might be on trunks or in them like ancient worms ,eggs

[@trevorhalpin658]

Interesing topic and good points. Rhododendron, Gunnera, Himalayan Balsam, Cherry Laurel, and Japanese Knotweed are some of the worst invasive species in Ireland. There have been some success in dealing with them, but there's also a lot of ignorance and indifference. One of the most important approaches to tackling invasive species is early intervention. It'll save massive amounts of time and money. Habitat destruction and fragmentation are like an open door to invasives.

[@JohnnyAngel8]

14:29 Run, Rob, run!! They're coming for you!

[@laylamctavish8122]

Leilandii (leyland cypress) is a hybrid of 2 american cypresses brought over in about 1860. About 60 years later they hybridised, creating one of the most common urban hedge plants in my area

[@niamhfox9559]

One tree species that has 'naturalised' in Victoria Australia are apple trees. It is a fantastic source of fruit for fruit eating birds and bats in areas that have lost a lot of native sources, pollon for insects and are spread by wildlife eating them. It doesn't seem to be one that takes over to the detriment of the area. The fruit isn't usually up to people standard though (the possums beat us to them every year). There are so many invasive plants here in Australia. The pine trees and cypresses are seen as dangerous in fire prone areas as they burn very differently and exclude other plant life, our council is slowly taking out invasives on public land AFTER replanting natives so it's not just destroying any food/shelter source for wildlife by denuding the area.

[@ironhornforge]

I live in Queensland Australia where the cane toads has decimated our wildlife, however there is some hope as some of our native predators have shown some resilience to their toxin and a few birds have figured out how to kill them without harm by flipping them over and eating the parts that aren't toxic.

[@silva7493]

I haven't seen a grey squirrel in my part of California for 50 years. I don't know where the red squirrels were from originally, but the reds and greys all interbred. Now all of the squirrels here are a bit rusty. The giant grey tail which was a distinctive feature of the greys, is no more.

[@obiwahndagobah9543]

The reds you have in California are a different species to the Eurasian red squirrel. There are no known locations this species was introduced to and it can not interbreed with the grey squirrel. The species you see is probably a native North American species. But naybe not native to California.

[@graphite2786]

The Western Grey was the original species in California but the eastern grey and the eastern fox squirrel are invasive. They don't actually interbreed but the fox squirrel has taken over huge areas of western gray habitat especially in southern California. The fox squirrel has a wide colour variation from red to almost black. Over the years, those color morphs have been bred out to what you see today - a gray squirrel with a rust tinge. The beautiful western gray ( or Banner tail squirrel) has virtually disappeared from the LA area but can still be found in the mountainous areas

[@silva7493]

@ Very interesting. Thank you. I haven't seen them in the East SF Bay area, either. You're right, the ones we have now, look like the reddish fox squirrels I just googled. Banner tail squirrel is a perfect name!

[@silva7493]

@ Thank you!

[@southeasternlover]

I see Grey Squirrels all the time here in Western NY. I think they are a bit overpopulated.

[@jordanhamann9123]

Did you separate from Mossy Earth?

[@LeaveCurious]

I haven't worked there since spring last year. Full time Leave Curious!

[@freddieanderson182]

I was also wondering that

[@chrisburland2216]

Any reason why? Do you consider their work beneficial still?

[@davidunwin7868]

Thanks for pronouncing the name correctly ❤🎉

[@Patrickballhater]

Thing is aren't basically all our native species migrants that come over at the end of the ice age. I think non-natives slot in more easily here than they would in the isolated ecosystems of Australia and New Zealand.

[@largedoglover99]

Decimate- reduce by 10% as in decimal. Do you mean annihilate?

[@MabusTiefsee]

"bad" is a judgement, there are no bad or good species, except you got a specific goal in mind for nature

[@LeaveCurious]

this is true

[@johnlong1100]

Cane toads - Bad - for Australia without a doubt - BAD Just helping you out a bit

[@MabusTiefsee]

@johnlong1100 cane toads good for the total amount of biomater as well as the amount of adapted amphibians

[@jamessaunders7931]

Could a classification of invasive change back to non native? I imagine the re-introduction of predatory mammals would mean a lot of their prey would change from invasive and detrimental, to actually a useful part of the ecosystem.

[@falcolf]

Big invasive here where I live is mysis shrimp, which outcompete native shrimp species which juvenile kokanee salmon and trout depend upon. Fortunately, a company has figured out a way to target and fish these mysis shrimp and our invasive shrimp are now the gold standard food for marine aquarium fish! It's awesome because it helps saves our native wild landlocked salmon while also providing jobs and nutritious food to pet fish! Win-win!❤

[@JallenMeodia]

They're clearly just biding their time, give them 100 years and they'll make their move and BAMB! Day of the Wallmate Pines!

[@anthonymaddison9588]

Mate I'm 67 years old and live in Cairns, far North Queensland about 20 miles north of where the cane toad was released. Consequently i have experienced the whole cane toad story. I challenge you to find a cane toad now. They have basically gone, you see them infrequently . Guess they found out the hard way that Australia is not an easy place to live.

[@thebackwardpointinggodwit8080]

I didn’t know crane toad numbers were declining.do you know what is the cause?

[@brettmeikle]

@anthonymaddison9588 Nothing as yet indicates that cane toads are declining other than locally. Haven't they now reached the west coast?

[@anthonymaddison9588]

@@brettmeikle I'm only reporting from my area.

[@anthonymaddison9588]

@@thebackwardpointinggodwit8080 Reporting from my area only.

[@breebisshop7325]

Thousands down around Brisbane area

[@veramae4098]

Britain's plant Meadow Rue was brought to the U.S. by gardeners. They love it here! Definitely became aggressively invasive. One remedy is to look for a natural predator, and one was found - - a bug that eats it. After many bug generations of testing by the Dept. of Agriculture (didn't want to introduce something else invasive), the bug was released. Works like a charm. It only eats Meadow Rue, and when one patch of plants is gone it flees to another. Scattered Meadow Rue still crops up occasionally from wind blown seeds, but they've become just a nice addition to our water shores. From Michigan.

[@TheDanEdwards]

11:49 "little evolutionary change"

[@jujitsujew23]

Where I live there are several Invasives that cause reel damage and the more I travel I learn that nearly everywhere has Invasives causing problems. One of the bad ones here in the Pacific Northwest of the US are the two species of invasive blackberry. Negative, they swamp over everything in their path from flowers to bushes and even small trees…but they do have delicious fruit…

[@georgecarlin2656]

Tomatoes are even more invasive, they grow literally in every garden

[@HaggisWildlifeFoundation]

another great video ma man, need to get these on the go everywhere

[@Inkling777]

In the SE U.S. two of our most troublesome invasives are kudzu and Chinese wisteria. They can overwhelm and kill trees. And yes, we also have a problem with _English_ ivy. I had to kill its vines. They'd grown half-way up a 100-foot pine and would eventually deprive it of sunlight.

[@christinewist5934]

We have also had the Grey squirrel come into British Columbia from Ontario. They are destroying the red squirrel and chipmunk. They rode the railways.

[@1stGruhn]

For a few major invasive plants here in the US - Japanese bush honeysuckle, Autumn Olive, Bradford Pear, Kudzu, Sericea lespedeza, Tree-of-heaven, Multiflora Rose, and many more... Some animals: Asian carp (silver, bighead, grass, common carp, goldfish), snake head fish, zebra mussels, Daphnia lumholtzi, nutria, Japanese beetle, domestic cats, European starlings, emerald ash borer, gypsy moth (now called Spongy moth) and many more. Fungus: chestnut blight, Pseudogymnoascus destructans aka White-nose syndrome in bats, dutch elm disease, oak wilt, and several others. There are so many now...

[@GrizzlyT2945]

I live in the Pacific NW United States and would love to see Wollemi pine grown around here.

[@mattmccallum2007]

There was a pretty big one growing in a green space right in front of a transfer station (dump) in Shoreline WA, but I went back to see it last year and it was gone??

[@GrizzlyT2945]

@mattmccallum2007 that's sad. Must not have been able to handle the cold snap we had last year.

[@mattmccallum2007]

@@GrizzlyT2945 maybe? there are a few at the Seattle arboretum and one outside of the Biology Building at the UW. They're still there.

[@nickcollins4268]

Here in Newfoundland, one invasive species that I’ve noticed the most is Japanese’s knotweed…. It takes over ditches any open wet space. I don’t think it’s match for boreal forest but spreads through communities like wildfire. I even noticed it in our most remote community with boat only access

[@JonathanWholohan-ks6en]

Curious anecdote... I have an uncle who is a horticulturist with a wide-ranging experience in native Australian species, and he told me that the Wollomi Pine was already known by a select few conservation-inclined bushwalkers back in the late 1970s. The location of the "dinosaur forest" was a closely guarded secret at the time was what I was told.

[@boodashaka2841]

The leaves are so similar to those of our native Kauri (Agathis Australis) here in NZ and I recently found out that Wollemi Pine and Kauri are both related to the Araucaria family and to each other. A note on the wind dispersal too - Australia actually is extremely windy so it's a shame they are only surviving in a couple of crevices in mountain valleys or else the wind could serve them well.

[@robertsteffler9184]

I've been battling invasive species for years now and, frankly, with little to almost no success. I'm now trying to develop a more nuanced attitude about "invasives." In fact, I'm more and more leaning towards just introduce everything that might have a chance of surviving here. Unless we stop all travel and trade, it's just going to continue happening anyway. Humans are the new continental drift... the process by which species colonize new territory. I don't come by this conclusion easily and I still find myself battling invasives. But I'm starting more and more to accept this more relaxed attitude.

[@thedigginggardener]

Fantastic. I’ve got one in my garden in Dorset, it’s almost as tall as the largest one in the Arboretum.

[@UltraXD.]

As an Aussie, blackberries and countless other British plants are the worst case of invasive species, Australia’s bush ecosystems are so fragile and I’d love to see you do a video about Australian bush lands.

[@mattmccallum2007]

Same here in Washington State in USA. English Ivy, English Laurel, English Holly

[@Whammytap]

In the Midwestern US, north of the range of kudzu, we're dealing with euonymus. It's a low-growing, sprawling bushy vine that can and does choke out everything but mature trees. Nothing eats it, it provides no cover for critters. It was imported as a fast-growing, no-maintenance ground cover. Boy howdy, they had that right. It can cover a hillside in less than one season.

[@stevenclements1697]

Here in Hawaii we are overrun with invasive plants trees and animals that have been introduced, intentionally and otherwise. The most hated is the Puerto Rican coqui frog that chirps at 90 decibels at night. Many native species of birds and plants have been lost.

[@tclarkson2000]

Nice work on this video (and pronunciation)! Very much agree with your assessment - invasiveness stems from rampant reproduction, disrupting ecological relationships, generally from a lack of predation keeping numbers in check. Wollemis are certainly more evolutionarily adapted to a UK style climate than 95% of modern Australia. However, (as someone in Oz trying desperately to get them to reproduce) they are slowish to grow, slow to develop cones, not high viability rates of seed, wind dispersed, and would never germinate in grass. They are survivors, with slow reproduction, coppicing to survive fires and storm damage, and live 1000-2000 years. There's just too much natural competition to ever get out of control. They're only currently surviving to reproduction with a lot of TLC. If they turn invasive, you'll have about a 500-year heads up 😉

[@DaveG-rs3xp]

Heh Rob - thanks for another interesting video with great visuals. Always a treat. Keep em coming mate! 🦘

[@09conrado]

Aren't then dinosaur trees planted wayyyy too widely spaced? And all of the same age... perhaps interplant it with a lot of young ones, and some more in another 20 years?

[@alun7006]

They're not trying to replicate the original woodland, it's a plantation that was set up to help preserve the species.

[@Solstice261]

Its an arboretum, you aren't building a forest but more of a library, it makes no real sense to try an make a forest out of this pine in Britain since it doesn't support any species so you'll only see it in places like this

[@jamespark1997]

Betteridge's law of headlines is an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."

[@jv-ig3vp]

There are rheas in northern Germany. They escaped at the end of the 90s and have developed splendidly. The problem for a long time was that they were not allowed to be hunted because they were considered native. But had a smaller population compared to native species. At the same time, they caused a lot of damage and the farmers were not compensated as usual for damage caused by wild animals because rhea damage was not on the list of things to be compensated for. A real problem for the farmers... Recently they have been allowed to be hunted, which has significantly reduced the population.

[@meikala2114]

The worst invasive species near me in Tasmania are blackberries, Spanish heath, Hawthorne, rise Briar, digitalis, gorse, broom, plantain, tagaste, ivy, holly.....

[@Solstice261]

To be fair Spanish heath is a marker of degraded land so if you want to control heath you need to stop clearcutting

[@deersbrook4485]

Imagine how boring the UK would be if 100% of our trees were only allowed to be the few native ones we have. Giant sequoia are fantastic trees for example.

[@leelastarsky]

A prime example of a non-native species thriving to the detriment of the local environment would be the Australian eucalypts in California USA. They are a genuine fire hazard.

[@jimgraham6722]

The trouble in CA is that eucalypts have no natural predators or disease. They grow healthy, big and lush. In Australia they can still be a fire hazard but the foliage is thinner due to disease predation and drought. CA eucalypts have the densest foliage I have ever seen on a eucalypt. In dry weather the leaves are packed with eucalyptus oil and readily ignite. That said in dry weather many conifers also readily ignite.

[@jamielandis4606]

I lived in Alexandria, Indiana, USA. Hometown of the largest ball of paint. We have black squirrels. Someone, ages ago, brought a breeding pair of black squirrels from northern Michigan to Alexandria. They have taken over the town. There are no to very few grey squirrels in town. But, the black squirrels don’t go past town limits. It’s strange. They interbred so you will see a black squirrel with an orange tail, for example. Or splotches of orange fur. (Orange, brown, grey)

[@TheCaptainLulz]

I dont think they understand what invasive means, I think they confuse it with non-native. A plant can be non-native and be non-invasive, invasiveness means it harms the ecosystem by taking it over. I doubt these trees are capable of that, they spread slowly and dont outcompete anything around them, they are non-native, but NOT invasive.

[@sokar_rostau]

12:55 The Wollemi's natural range is the bottom of a gorge, the perfect location for this kind of reproduction but also effectively a prison that prevents the pollen from going too far. Given the species' age and isolation, it might even be possible that both modes of reproduction are an adaptation to it's shrinking range over the eons - with sexual reproduction increasingly becoming a genetic risk, clones keep the low population surviving. EDIT: I think it's also worth pointing out voles in northern Britain originated from the area around The Netherlands, and were brought across Doggerland at least 10,000 years ago as a portable food source (similar to guinea pigs in the Andes).

[@arnorrian1]

One example of an invasive non-native plant being a gain is Asclepias syriaca, the common milkweed. It has spread in the wild all over Europe, but I've seen, here in Serbia, being swarmed by seven species of wild bees on a single plant at the same moment. Considering the declining number of pollinators maybe having it naturalized is not such a bad thing.

[@Aysthete]

Interestingly, Kookaburras are non native here in Tasmania - they take nesting hollows and food away from native species, and predate our tiger snakes which have started changing colour because of it.

[@meikala2114]

Kookaburras have a red meat

[@YunxiaoChu]

@@meikala2114and?

[@ThomasDuffney]

in Canada we have ostrich ferns, you can eat the curled up leaves, they are as old or older than Wollemi pine, and just as beautiful

[@1fishmob]

I used to frequent the McClellan Business park in California. Not to far away from the airport area, in a creek, a family caught a Pacu during a fishing trip. It was a one and done thing, but it caused quite a stir.

[@anthonyj7989]

One of the reasons why the Wollemi Pine was moved around the world, was not so much to save the Wollemi Pine from extinction, it was to stop people from taking cutting from the wild ones and introducing disease to the remaining pines.

[@JumpingSpider37]

Thanks for this conversation. There’s a bit of nuance to the invasive conversation that is lost sometimes. You covered it well! Here in Texas, my battle is against Chinese privet. It dominates the understory and pushes out a lot of our native understory shrubs. Birds spread the berries around. The only truly effective way to remove privet is to rip it out by the stump, which can lead to massive soil erosion. It’s a real menace. Luckily there’s some cool stuff with goat brush clearing that looks promising!

[@Setanta1913]

Protect our native British red squirrels.😢

[@HurBenny]

1:13 I think it’s fair to say the entirety of Britain is now very familiar with this idea.

[@martinhuhn7813]

I used to live next to a small woodland nature reserve and at the entry point to it, there was invasive Fallopia japonica. It is quite nice to have, because you can eat young plants like Rhubarb, but it is growing and expanding quickly and kills all the native undergrowth. It isn´t really difficult to controll if you know what you are doing. I used to grab the plants which were expanding into the forest and just pull them out. Afterwards, they grow back slowly from smaller roots which remain in the ground, whilst other plants can compete with them and if you occassionally repeat that, you can entirely get rid of a spot of those invasives - which I didn´t try to achieve, I was just going for a walk there regularly (and it wasn´t my ground). But after a few years, the town sent "specialists" to fight the invasive, they used poison multiple times and brought in excarvators. And that made it much worse. Of cause, they did not get any of the plants which had already advanced a bit into the forest anyways. But more importantly, the poison was far more effective in getting rid of all the other plants and it affected the roots of Fallopia japonica less than just pulling them out - so, they allways grew back rapidly without any competition. The excarvator created a big pile of the invasive - which they loved. When you just pull them out and leave them flat on the ground, they dry out and can´t take root again, only the roots which remained in the ground could recover and make a weaker plant. But in the big pile, with a lot of soil pushed into it ...

[@gothwolf13]

A similarly ancient non-native tree that is not necessarily invasive is the ginkgo. Here in the PNW, we have a ton of invasives, especially Himalayan blackberry, English ivy, Scotch broom, and Japanese knotweed. The first two can be found just about everywhere in the region and take over EVERYTHING in the patches they grow in. Currently, there is a big debate over barred owls and whether or not to exterminate them. They are out-competing spotted owls, which historically thrived in old growth forest. But since so much of that habitat has been logged, barred owls are slowly replacing them as they are more adapted to open spaces. They are still native to North America and some people argue that this may just be evolution in progress. Others say barred owls should be hunted to prevent them wiping out the spotted owl. The spotted owl was an extremely controversial species that protected old growth forests from being logged more in the 90s and early 2000s.

[@mattmccallum2007]

Japanese knotweed looking like it’s becoming a huge problem. I’m beginning to see it everywhere.

[@bazexo12.73]

Mosquitoes have been around 440 million years.

[@golira19]

On the east coast of the US the tree of heaven is a really tough invasive, but the spotted lantern fly's recent introduction and takeover might be a good thing since its the fly's native host tree.

[@kloss213]

I tried to create a S Wisconsin prairie. I had a near dead graveled acreage. I prepped soil planted costly native prairie mix. And quickly started to have cool prairie plants and tons of pollinators you could hear it buzzing from 50ft away. A UWM expert on prairies stopped over told me it's wonderful but 70% non native said many of the plants were blown in and were European types we used for cattle grazing.

[@zacharymoss2994]

A invasive jurassic park tree? Dang well at least there's no actual dinosaurs running around apart from birds.

[@P-K-P]

Those beautiful trees aren't the invasive species threatening Britain.

[@alexanderstone9463]

Given it’s restricted distribution you got two options: Option 1: Confine the tree to Australia where climate change (even if it’s minor) and wildfires will almost certainly ‘cause it to go extinct. You may not want that outcome but that’s irrelevant to that fact that it is most likely. Option 2: Plant it outside its natural range, in an area with low level of endemism, even if they spread on their own thereafter. Quite frankly Option 2 is the better option and I reject arguments from Americans, New Zealanders, and Australians who argue to the contrary. I categorically reject the idea that all non-native species are created equal. A non-native species in New Zealand is far more destructive than one in Britain. The reason for that is because the level of endemism on Britain is nowhere even remotely close to that of New Zealand. And the reason for that is because of the last ice age. If Britain regards archaeophytes as native (and they do) then quite frankly I don’t see how they can regard all neophytes as invasive unless the species in question is COMPLETELY out of control, and when I say “COMPLETELY” I mean like at Australian Rabbit or southern Kudzu levels. Has the Wollemi Pine indicated that it would thoroughly dominate so many ecosystems in Britain like that? No, it hasn’t. The Americans, Australians, and New Zealanders reading this should take a step back and realize that not everywhere on earth is exactly like their own countries.

[@raclark2730]

The park were they are located is now well attended to. The trees were successfully defended last time they were threatened by fire. Prescribed burns are key for Australia. There is in my opinion a need for further implementation. Preferably based on indigenous methods.

[@Solstice261]

No it isn't with invasives that is a dreadful solution specially when their home continent is big enough to allow them to survive climate change, please don't speak about what you don't understand

[@PlagelsGarden]

The underlying assumption that it is not our role in nature to move plants around and disturb the environment is an interesting take given the empirical evidence to the contrary.

[@planetdisco4821]

The story of the guy who abseiled in to save them from the bushfires in 2009 would make an awesome movie…

[@philiptaylor7902]

When I lived in High Wycombe we had a small population of Midwife Toads, they filled spring nights with their peeping call. They never spread far and didn’t seem to have an effect on the local population of frogs. They think they hitched a lift to the UK with garden plants.

[@gartengeflugel924]

12:58 I would dare disagree and suppose that wind dispersal is probably the best way to colonise large areas. It also has no dependence on more uncertain vectors like animals, making the species more resilient in that regard. Suckering and producing clonal groves is the final step a plant can evolve to secure a specific area for a longer amount of time. Of course coming at the risk of greater danger by pathogens, fires and similar distasters. These trees have acquired every ability they can to survive with the means they have, but I do not see them proving to be of any competition to much more derived or modern plants. I'd surely like to see them thrive, but like many other ancient gymnosperms, their days may long have been numbered.

[@tadblackington1676]

Oriental bittersweet (celastrus orbiculata) is a common invasive in my area. While at times difficult it provides late winter fruit for birds as well as nesting sites. Also it has become genetically intertwined with the native american bittersweet (c. scandens), just to highlight the complication.