Invasive Plants in the Malaysian Landscape

The increasing use of exotic plants for urban landscaping has presented a new threat to the local ecosystems when the newly introduced plant species thrive out of control—i.e., becoming invasive—in the new environment. If left unchecked, they are capable of displacing local plants; and thereby, causing a disruption to the local ecosystems. The disruptions can contribute to permanent changes to local and regional landscape characteristics, which in turn, will threaten agricultural, recreational as well as tourism potentials of a country. This paper highlights the threat and suggests methodologies for the prevention, management and eradication of these invasive plants.