ANY INVASIVE SPECIES CAN WRECK HAVOC TO TENNESSEE'S ECOSYSTEM
Some slither, some crawl and others grow wild. They can be found in your yard, in the water and even in the sky. No matter the type, all invasive species can negatively impact native ecosystems.
How to get rid of invasive species
The Nature Conservancy recommends:
Verify that the plants you purchase are native and replace invasive plants with native alternatives
Clean boats thoroughly before transporting it to a different body of water
Clean bags and footwear prior to hiking or walking in new area
What plants are invasive in Tennessee?
Tree of Heaven (tree) Mimosa (tree)
Garlic mustard (herb) Alligatorweed (herb) Hairy jointgrass (grass) Hungarian brome (grass) Asian bittersweet (vine) Spotted knapweed (herb) Sweet Autumn Clematis (vine) Chinese yam (vine) Autumn Olive (shrub) Burning bush (shrub) Winter creeper (vine) Japanese knotweed (herb) English ivy (vine) Water thyme (aquatic) Bicolor Lespedeza (shrub) Chinese lespedeza (herb) Chinese privet (shrub) Japanese honeysuckle (vine) Amur bush honeysuckle (shrub) Purple loosestrife (herb) Japanese stiltgrass (grass) Chinese silver grass (grass) Asian spiderwort (herb) Brazilian watermilfoil (aquatic) Eurasian water — milfoil (aquatic) Empress tree (tree) Beefsteak plant (herb) Common reed (grass) Kudzu (vine) Bradford pear (tree) Multiflora rose (shrub)
Wine raspberry (shrub) Johnson grass (grass) Japanese meadowsweet (shrub) Coltsfoot (herb) Common periwinkle (vine) Chinese wisteria (vine) Japanese wisteria (vine)
Invasive insects in Tennessee
Tomato fruitworm Southern pine beetle Multicolored Asian lady beetle Japanese beetle Hemlock wooly adelgid Emerald ash borer Brown marmorated stink bug Fall armyworm Kudzu bug
Fire ant Sugarcane aphid
Joro spider Spruce beetle
Fire ant decapitating fly Hybrid imported fire ant Black imported fire ant Black stem borer Ambrosia beetle Fruit-tree pinhole borer Bark beetle Granulate ambrosia beetle Black twig borer Crapemyrtle bark scale San Jose scale
Spotted-wing drosophilia Red imported fire ant Forest tent caterpillar European elm bark beetle Maple petiole borer European hornet Asian chestnut gull wasp Green stink bug
Pit scale Mimosa webworm Potato tuber moth European pine shoot moth Asiatic oak weavil Introduced pine sawfly Fall cankerworm Pear sawfly Spotted lanternfly Linden aphid Northern giant hornet
Invasive animals in Tennessee
Wild boar Shovel-headed garden worm European startling American bullfrog Hammerhead worm Red-eared slider Alewife Common carp
Rock pigeon Wandering broadheaded planarian Three-lined land planarian Mediterranean gecko