Invasive plants can have a slow but devastating effect on an ecosystem.
By outcompeting native plants for resources like sun and water, they reduce natural diversity, alter soil conditions and, ultimately, wipe out native wildlife habitats.
"It starts with the insects, then the birds that eat them and all the way up the food chain," said Blake Moore, Delaware Invasive Species Council chairman. "It's just really important to protect our native plant species here in Delaware."
Moore is also a horticulture and natural resources agent at the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension. He has a bachelor's degree in natural resource management and previously served as a noxious weed specialist for the Delaware Department of Agriculture.