Rethinking invasive weed management through multispecies justice

Invasive species are often seen as a major threat to native plants and animals around the world. But in cities and post-industrial areas, they can also help create new ecosystems that support important functions and provide habitats for many other species. Despite this, management usually focuses on removing or controlling them without paying much attention to the local context or the roles these species actually play. This can have unintended consequences since removing invasive species from urban areas can reduce both the number of species present and the different ecological functions they support.

In this article led by Josephine Gillespie, we suggest that a multispecies justice approach can help us deal with these complexities. It encourages us to consider the needs and roles of different species, rather than focusing only on whether they are native or not. By engaging with the species of Lantana at a green space site in Sydney Australia, we explore how this approach can help navigate the tensions between native and invasive species, and rethink what it means for nature to thrive in shared urban environments. Urban environmental management can move beyond simple binary ideas of native versus invasive and instead embrace more context-sensitive, inclusive approaches that support the flourishing of diverse species in shared environments.

 Gillespie, J., Pineda-Pinto, M., Dan Penny, Hochuli, D. F., Raymond, C. M., Stålhammar, S., Celermajer, D., & Sturman, A. (2025). Subjects of justice: Rethinking invasive weeds through multispecies justice. Npj Urban Sustainability, 5(1), 85. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00281-1