Southwest Biological Science Center

• About the Criteria
• About the List
• About AZ-WIPWG
• Terminology and References
• Downloads and Documents

The purpose of the Criteria is to enable evaluating, categorizing, and listing as invasive, those non-native plant species that threaten wildlands in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Each state is independently applying the Criteria to those species introduced after European contact to native ecosystems in the state.  The Criteria and the assessment process make every attempt to objectively distinguish an invasive non-native plant from a seemingly innocuous non-native plant. 

Goals of the Criteria are to: 

• Provide a uniform protocol to assess the impacts of non-native plants
• Allow for a state-wide assessment
• Develop non-regulatory categorized lists of established invasive non-native plants
• Provide a clear explanation of the assessment and categorization process 
• Provide guidance on evaluating the reliability of the information
• Educate policy makers, land managers, and the public about invasive non-native plants that threaten wildlands

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