From Yankees fleeing the northern cold to Asian walking catfish to South ; American water hyacinths, southern Florida has suffered through many invasions by persistent foreigners threatening to displace native flora and fauna. The vulnerable peninsula, devasted last month by wide-ranging brush fires, continues to be under attack, this time by alien trees: the Brazilian pepper and the Australian pine and Melaleuca, all amazingly prolific and fast spreading. Laments Julia Morton, a University of Miami botanist: "These trees are entirely too healthy. They don't have natural enemies here."
As is so often true, the incursion of aliens was abetted and, in...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
