An altered landscape

the contrast here is created by two non-native plants from opposite corners of the globe.
Both are considered pest, one is a minor pest here in the American West, the other is a game changer in steppe regions in both North and South America.

the tree ( the minor pest if you must consider it that) is black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) Native to the Southern Appalachians and the Ozark plateau, it is widely naturalized throughout North America thanks to humans .It drives purist crazy, but seems to do little harm. A as kid outside its native habitat it was the most coveted of flowering trees, always producing it graceful racemes of white flowers for my birthday.

Cross the sea to Europe and travel through the Piedmont of the southern Alps in Italy in May is to witness a rare american tree(in its native habitat) gone a muck, the hillsides are a mix of white and pale green due to what seems an endless sea of this tree. What causes such a picture...humans. Most invasive species are the product of human disturbance, and the Piedmont of Italy has felt the influence of human hands for more than a millennium.

The grass is Cheat Grass (Bromus tectorum). This seemly innocent bright green grass has altered landscapes throughout the arid west and has a good foot hold in Patagonia where it promises to do the same.

How it Originally came to the New World from its central Asian homeland is blurry, but what it is doing is nothing short of nightmarish. it has the ability to out compete native grasses and forbs for water, and changes fire regimes that have guided and shaped the native vegetation for thousands of years. What does it share with all plants out of place ? The ability to harness humanity's quest to change the earth in our favor. What do we do? Slow our pace and stop bending the environment to our will.