In a noteworthy effort, the state of Maine has picked up an efficient way of saving the environment from the intrusion of insidious elements. Maine has turned to crowd-sourcing for gathering data about the invasive plants that causing mayhem to its natural areas.

The state has chronicled these intimidating encroachers through the website, 'iMapInvasive' which launched a year ago, allowing the residents to post photos of invasive plants that they encounter on public or private land. Currently, the users access the map through their web browser and submit their location via points on a map.

Nancy Olmstead, invasive plant biologist at Maine, said about 40 non-native plant species have been identified through the tool after some 224 users submitted more than 2,800 observations. The invasive species documented include buckthorn, Japanese barberry, giant hogweed, Morrow's honeysuckle and autumn olive among others.

Olmstead said the state is utilizing this data to curb the invasive hazard by improving the management of public lands and by educating the private landowners about methods which can be employed to ward off these non-native plant species.

Olmstead stated, "The problem with these plants is that they overrun native habitats and crowd native species. A better understanding of these plants will be helpful as we get a better idea of their distribution".

Ann Gibbs, state horticulturist, further informed that many on these invaders arrived in Maine as ornamental plants through the horticultural trade.

The peril of invasive plants is most daunting in Acadia National Park of Maine where more than 250 species of non-native plants have been identified and about 30 of these are considered threatening to the park's ecosystem.