{"id":96720,"date":"2019-05-07T09:15:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T13:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=96720"},"modified":"2019-05-09T09:01:23","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T13:01:23","slug":"new-book-sounds-alarm-invasive-plant-species-spreading-throughout-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/new-book-sounds-alarm-invasive-plant-species-spreading-throughout-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"New Book Sounds Alarm About Invasive Plant Species Spreading Throughout Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Look around: Verdant water hyacinths, towering Australian pines and colorful Brazilian pepper trees are populating our landscape everywhere \u2013 and causing havoc.<\/p>\n

These and hundreds of other invasive plant species are taking over Florida\u2019s beautiful natural environment, and in the process crowding out native species and reducing many animal habitats. That topic is the latest in UCF biology Professor Linda Walters\u2019 series of books, which are distributed free for young readers to understand and help take care of the world around us.<\/p>\n

Silent Takeover! Invasive Plants in Florida<\/em> is Walters\u2019 ninth book written with colleagues, students and family members, and this 28-page volume is a warning about the unwanted plants growing in waterways, forests, fields and even our backyards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very important that this book is read by the next generation,\u201d says co-author Katherine Harris \u201918<\/strong>, who received her bachelor\u2019s degree in biology<\/a> as a Burnett Honors Scholar and was involved with the university\u2019s Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab. \u201cToday\u2019s kids are so used to hearing about all the environmental problems that their generation will have to deal with, to the point that kids feel it is impossible to make a difference. I hope this book gives kids the opportunity to be informed and to feel that they can have a positive impact on the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

This book\u2019s team also included Samantha Yuan<\/strong> \u201908 \u201914MS<\/strong>, who holds UCF bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in biology and is the research and outreach manager of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission\u2019s invasive plant management section, and Owen Fasolas, a Winter Park artist and designer.<\/p>\n

Young readers can find out about some of the most harmful invasive plants, the problems they cause to the natural ecosystems and how \u201cto help keep Florida native and wild.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Silent Takeover!<\/em>, young readers can find out about some of the most harmful invasive plants, the problems they cause to the natural ecosystems and how \u201cto help keep Florida native and wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walters, a UCF Pegasus Professor, says her series of biology books has been funded by grants and has mirrored her research agenda over the past decade. The books have been on topics such as protecting oyster reefs, invasive species from home aquariums dumped into waterways, sea-level rise, shoreline stabilization, and endangered birds. Funding has come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Sea Grant, and the Florida Department of Environmental ProtectionFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.<\/p>\n

Why is Walters interested in pushing these topics for her books?<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, how can you not<\/em> be interested in these things,\u201d she asks, adding that without natural habitats \u201cour lives would be much poorer in terms of every measure of quality of life you can think of\u2026We humans have trashed them, so it is also up to us to understand and restore them with great urgency now.\u201d<\/p>\n

This edition\u2019s distribution will push her total books in print to nearly 80,000 copies given out at schools, events and by requests through the years. Some agencies, such as the state\u2019s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, purchase copies for their outreach events.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no interest in making money off our books,\u201d Walters says. \u201cThe goal is to distribute the various conservation messages far and wide.\u201d<\/p>\n