Native refers to plants or animals that are in their natural range.
Animals and plants evolve together over thousands of years creating a fragile and interconnected system. Wildlife evolves with and because of the habitat around them.
For instance, the native and endangered Snail Kite feeds almost exclusively on native freshwater apple snails. If the apple snails disappear, so to do the Snail Kites.
Similarly, plants utilize animals to disperse seeds or pollinate flowers. As an example, ants disperse the native and endangered Small’s milkwort’s seeds. If you remove the ants you also destroy the tiny milkwort.
The removal or addition of new species can throw an entire ecosystem off balance. For instance, the introduction of exotic species in many areas of the world – including South Florida allows plants or animals with no local natural competitors to monopolize resources, out-compete native plants and even displace native wildlife by adversely altering the habitat.
As a result, some exotic plants are now a major and costly problem in many of Florida's parks and preserves, and some have become significant health and economic problems to the citizens of Florida. Over $ 100 million annually is spent to control exotic plants in the United States alone.
For these reasons, it is important to protect and restore native habitats with native plants and animals.
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