For centuries, humans have transported plants and animals and fungi all around the globe. Whether exotic plants for a home garden or spores hitching a ride on a boot, flora and fauna have found their way into ecosystems that were unprepared for their arrival. These “invasive species” have no natural predators to keep them in check and in that absence, they wreak havoc.

But which of these species has wreaked the most havoc in Vermont? That’s what Ashley Wojnarowski and Mike Mezzacapo of Pomfret want to know.

Josh Crane searches for answers and falls into the “bottomless pit” of invasive species management — and he gets up close with one of  Vermont’s most fragile ecosystems. 

For photos from our reporting, check out the web version of this story.

For help with species identification and to record your findings, check out iNaturalist.

This episode was reported by Josh Crane. It was produced and edited by Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Angela Evancie is Brave Little State’s Executive Producer. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Special thanks to Mike Bald, Betty Smith, Lexi Krupp, Abagael Giles, Corey Dockser, Charlie Nardozzi, Tim Parsons, Mary Walz, Mike Kiernan, Elise Schadler, Kim Jensen, Noah Hoffman, Evan Horne, David Moroney, Jay Herbert, Jack Lentz, Don Wenner, Virginia Barlow, Tony D’Amato, Markus Bradley, Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal, Noelia Barrios-Garcia, and Mary Holland.

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Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.