For decades, a tree from Australia spread across South Florida’s wetlands with little to hold it back. Melaleuca quinquenervia, often called paperbark, had been introduced to Florida for practical reasons, including landscaping and efforts to alter wet ground. It eventually escaped those uses and established dense stands across parts of the Everglades and surrounding wetlands. By the early 1990s, estimates put its spread at close to half a million acres. Its rapid expansion transformed native habitats and created a growing challenge for conservationists across the region.
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