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Definitions
- Biological potential
- The ability of a species to increase its numbers, either sexually and/or asexually
- Invasive plant
- A non-native species that has spread into native or minimally managed plant communities (habitats) in Maine. They cause economic or environmental harm by developing self-sustaining populations and becoming dominant and/or disruptive to native species. As defined here “species” includes all synonyms, subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of that species unless proven otherwise by a process of scientific evaluation.
- Likely invasive plant
- A non-native species that is naturalized in Maine, but is not widespread, but has been found to be invasive in other states or provinces with similar climates.
- Minimally managed habitats
- Minimally managed habitats are habitats where management efforts and investments of time, money and labor are infrequent or non-existent. These habitats may have been intensively managed by humans at one time in history. In some instances, management may be more intense, but management is done for conservation purposes and is primarily aimed at preserving elements of biological diversity such as an imperiled species or critical natural communities. Minimally managed habitats are similar to “natural areas” but the distinction is made in order to remove bias, misconceptions or ambiguities that surround the term natural areas.
- Non-native
- A species that is not native or naturally occurring (based on its biology, phylogeny, distribution and current knowledge of the species) within Maine. A species may be native to North America, but non-native in Maine. Synonymous with non-indigenous, exotic or alien.
- Potentially invasive plant
- Non-native species not currently known to be naturalized in Maine, but that can be expected to become invasive within minimally managed habitats within the state.
- Spatial gaps
- This term is used in reference to the ability of a species to disperse away from existing occurrences. The concept of crossing spatial gaps is used to distinguish those species that can disperse over discontinuities and become established elsewhere from species that spread across a habitat only by continual, uninterrupted growth.
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