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The invader grass grows by cloning, spreading roots that form circular duplicates of the original colony. The clones clone, creating an ever-rising growth curve.

"What it looks like is an accelerating rate of invasion," UC Davis researcher Debra Ayres said. "Instead of exponential growth, we have greater than exponential growth."

I am searching my math handbooks for Greater than Exponential Growth

Have we every seen this before in Biological Organisms?

Found this site:

mathematical epidemiology information

Actually, it is possible.

Some species, and expecially invasive exotics, are not optimally adapted to a specific niche when first introduced but do have the plasticity in their genetic makeup (i.e., they mutate rapidly) to accomodate different circumstances in but a few generations. After remaining in situ a few generations they adapt themselves genetically to the habitat by natural selection. That results in rising normal germination and survival rates, yielding exponential constants that change over time.

The result is that they appear at first not to be a problem. Their spread seems to fit the classical curve with estimated exponential constants based upon past behavior. Then, after being in situ for a few generations, their populations suddenly take off.

There's even a name for it. The first few years is sometimes called a "rest period."

"UC Davis researcher Debra Ayres said. "Instead of exponential growth..."

Boy, oh BOY, do I ever know this fanatical activist!!!

Nothing this woman will ever say will ever be believed by this FReeper!!! She is a total NUTCASE that wanted to set fire to western El Dorado county, (where she lived in Cameron Park) to stimulate the propogation of a non-listed but supposedly threatened MULE EAR WEED!!!

She was down in Sacramento at a hearing in an attempt to get the weed listed as endangered and WEEPING uncontrolably because too many of us homeowners had caught wind of her fanatical scheme and FReeped the hearing and put a stop to it!!!

Her whole thing was to stop any more homes being built (like hers just was) on the hills surrounding Cameron Park and to establish a "Plant Preserve" with the help of the CA Native Plant Society through a pressurized land grab by the American River Conservancy to totally rip-off the property owner!

It gave rise to a "Property Rights Movement" in this county that last just long enough to help us elect a "champion" to represent that area on the Board of Supervisors. Two things caused the weed to germinate, otherwise it stayed dormant. One was, any disturbance of the soil and the other was wildfire!

In the 1970's, the "Quarry Fire" raced from just above Cameron Park, all the way south to Amador County in 4 hours, driven by a huge north wind. This woke up a lot of these weeds, bringing them to her attention as the ideal tool to stop anyone from building ANYTHING on THEIR land!

This whole plant preserve issue was ultimately designed and used to hold El Dorado hostage for a huge "contribution" of county taxpayer dollars to buy the devalued land from landowners that suffered the loss of all their investment backed expectations in order to get the county the rights to water it already had "county of origin" rights to, historically!

You bettcha, anytime any article quotes this freaked out fanatic, you're gonna git a big rise outta me!!!

There is enough truth in the invasive specie threat, without EnvironMental Communutty WHACKO's militant and aggressive treatment of legitimate landowners using government force and blackmail between levels of government to get their way, to find the RIGHT WAY to wage war on invasive weeds. See www.NaturalProcess.net