New Study Shows Some Invasive Plant Species Could Help The Environment

A new study shows how a type of Japanese seaweed could help protect North Carolina's shoreline.

Coastal habitats in the state include seagrasses, salt marshes and oyster reefs. These habitats do a lot, like erosion control, storm surge and flood protection, and food production.

But the habitats are also declining worldwide due to human activity.

The study from Duke University and University of North Carolina – Wilmington looks at a Japanese seaweed known as Gracilaria vermiculophylla, a nonnative plant affecting lagoons and estuaries throughout coastlines of the North Atlantic. Researchers find that the species might help to offset the loss of coastal habitats.

Aaron Ramus with UNCW says invasive species aren't always bad.

“Many invaders do cause problems in their new habitat, but not all of them. In this case we see that the seaweed does good because native habitat formers are absent. It's better to have nonnative habitat than no habitat at all.”

Researchers say there's a lot of money being spent to eradicate invasive species. They argue more studies need to be done before dismissing all invasive plants as problematic.