Texas' 5-Step Program

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department created a weed risk assessment to determine an aquatic plant's relative potential for invasiveness. The assessment consists of these five steps.

1. Conduct a literature review to discover a plant’s native range and climate, history of invasiveness, reproductive requirements and dispersal mechanisms, control techniques and efficacy, habitat requirements, economic benefit, environmental and agricultural impact and history in Texas.
2. Compare native climatic variables to those in the target area.
3. Run the risk assessment model. The model asks for scores on various parameters, including how domisticated the species is, what type of climate it prefers, whether it is considered a weed elsewhere, any undesirable traits (such as spines, toxicity, allergen, flood hazard and capacity to form dense mats), plant type, reproduction, dispersal and persistence characteristics. 
4. Evaluate its history in Texas, including whether it had caused major or minor problems and whether the species has economic value in the state.
5. Decide whether the plant should be placed on the white list, kept off white list (unless there is a strong history of trade in Texas, a high agricultural or other economic value and there has been no evidence of invasiveness), or studied further. Factors for further study include agricultural and economic value and evidence of invasiveness.

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Texas' 5-Step Program

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