Une Liste des Plantes Vasculaires Exotiques Nuisibles du Québec : Nouvelle Approche Pour la Sélection Des Espèces et L'aide à la Décision

Abstract: Exotic vascular plants are increasingly numerous, and decision support systems identifying the most problematic species are needed to help environmental managers to develop control strategies. The fundamental tool in this respect is a list of weeds, or a weed risk assessment. We propose here a list for the province of Quebec constructed using an innovative approach based on 1) well-defined criteria, 2) consideration of all potential problems associated with exotic plants, 3) use of credible scientific data, 4) assessment by a panel composed of experts with diverse expertise and who are also potential users of the list, 5) use of a decision support approach, and 6) a debate among experts in order to reach a verdict concerning the status (weed, no weed) of each candidate plant. The list contains 87 of the 908 taxa of exotic vascular plants that are naturalized in Quebec, i.e., 9.6% of the total. About two thirds of the weeds are problematic for agricultural or ornamental plant production or for fo...