A remnant oak-savannah ecosystem, rich in native plant species and also heavily invaded by exotics.

An abandoned 19th century barn is located within a remnant oak-savannah ecosystem in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The herbaceous vegetation in the foreground includes the pink-flowered native plant Henderson’s shooting star (Dodecatheon hendersonii) growing among dense populations of invasive grasses, including Poa pratensis and Dactylis glomerata. The trees are oak (Quercus garryana). Exotic plant species benefit from fire suppression in these remnant ecosystems, which are rich in native species but also heavily invaded by exotics. The invasives appear to have reduced the abundance of native species in the remnants rather than displaced them, although this is still uncertain since habitat loss and fire suppression may also play roles in the impacts of the invasives. Although few native species have gone extinct, many are low in abundance. This photograph originally appeared on the cover of Ecology (86:1) in January of 2005.