To assess the vulnerability of a region to invasive plants, documentation of the presence or absence of invasive plants is necessary. This project expands on work initiated by the EPA to identify invasive plants in rural communities in the Bristol Bay region. Between the two efforts, 26 villages will be inventoried for invasive plant species; this will provide both an essential baseline for understanding the potential impact from these plants and the opportunity to treat the existing populations before they invade new areas. The second part of the project will use these data to assess the vulnerability of important subsistence plants (blueberry and low-bush cranberry) to changes in pollination, as key insect species can be drawn to invasive plant populations.
