A scientist who is studying the impact of invasive plants on Bermuda’s landscape has advised residents to be cautious about where horticultural waste is discarded.

Alison Copeland also said that research has shown that more than 90 per cent of invasive plants were “intentionally” introduced to the island.

Ms Copeland said: “I see piles dumped in nature reserves and on the side of the road or Railway Trail.

“Plants that grow from broken pieces like Pothos vine or elephant ear are spread like this and they take over habitats very quickly.”

Ms Copeland, who is pursuing doctoral studies at Durham University in England, previously worked with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

During her tenure there, she focused primarily on Bermuda’s rare native and endemic plants.

“This is partly what motivated me to get into studying invasives,” she said.

This spring, she has been conducting surveys in parks and nature reserves to count trees, underlying plants and seedlings in various habitats “to work out how invaded our habitats really are”.

She found that the Surinam cherry — a flowering plant native to South America’s east coast — is the most common seedling germinating in the outdoors.

It was followed by allspice, a tropical evergreen tree and mock orange, a plant that thrives in moist soils.

Ms Copeland said an inventory of Bermuda’s plants was compiled from various publications from the 1880s up to 2022.

That list contains 1,587 plant names, 90 per cent of which were introduced to Bermuda by people, while only 10 per cent are native, which signifies they “got here on their own”.

She said most of the plants that were introduced “are fine, they stay where we plant them and do us a good service”.

She added: “Only 22.5 per cent of the plants we have introduced have escaped from cultivation and started to spread on the landscape, and only 3.7 per cent of introduced plants have become invasive.”

She said scientists examined how and why plants known to be invasive were brought to Bermuda.

“We found that 94 per cent of invasive species were introduced intentionally. This should tell us we really need to consider future imports carefully.

“We also found that 75 per cent of invasive plants were introduced for ornamental purposes. This really highlights the role that people need to play.

“Be a smart shopper when you buy plants and dispose of them properly.”

To control the spread of invasives, Ms Copeland said: “It is important to both prevent the introduction of new potentially invasive species and to look at how we can manage the problem species we have already got.

“I say manage, not control, because for most of our invasive plants, they are so widely dispersed we are never going to get rid of them completely, so that is not a realistic goal.”

Ms Copeland said the problem with invasive plants is that they grow over time, adding: “Quick action by small groups of neighbours or individuals is the answer when invasive species are affecting us.”

She said everyone can play a role in controlling the prevalence of the plants, whether in a garden or around the house.

“To become invasive a species has to cross the ocean to Bermuda, then manage to survive, reproduce and get dispersed around our environment.”

She said an obvious choice for people is “not to import anything that might spread”.

She added: “To stop things reproducing and dispersing you can cut the fruits or flowers off.

“This would be an easy thing to do for invasive species like Chinese Fan palms or Queensland umbrella tree.

“If you have one of these in your yard, let the bees have the flowers, then chop off the forming berry bunches.”

Ms Copeland said residents can also plant native or endemic plants as there has been “a marvellous increase” in interest in recent years, with more people growing and selling them.

She added: “If you ask at plant nurseries, they should be able to direct you to something appropriate to where you live.

“Particularly if you have a coastal garden, native plants are well adapted to wind and salt spray.”

Ms Copeland is fond of her field of study and she said: “People always ask me if I get depressed studying invasive species, and yes, sometimes I do, but it helps to remember that we try to understand the invasives so we can manage them to help out our special endemic plants and animals.

“Invasives are quite fascinating too because they are nature’s survivors.”

She said the plants may have moved halfway around the world to a completely new environment with different pollinators, predators and competitors and they are thriving.

“As an ecologist, that is so interesting,” she added.