"You never see anything else growing within an English Ivy patch," says ecologist Stassia Samuels. She helps eradicate the invasive species, which impacts wildlife up and down the food chain. "The Spotted Owl is dependent upon rodents who live on the forest floor ... and when you have ivy crowding that out - they can't see them."
Samuels, along with Kim Tays and Stan Binnie of the No Ivy League talk to Tom Wheeler, Program Coordinator at EPIC, about why English Ivy is such a threat, and what's being done about it.
According to the NEC's Larry Glass:English ivy is becoming an increasing threat to the biodiversity of the North Coast. This evergreen vine grows in sun and shade, smothers ground vegetation and climbs high into trees, forming dense sun-blocking mats of vegetation that can topple the trees during storms.
The EcoNews Report is presented by the Northcoast Environmental Center.
