Prouts Neck is a peninsula—at its tip, almost an island—in the Town of Scarborough, Maine. Since the 19th century, it has been a hub of summer hotels, homes, residents and visitors. Prior to that, moving back through time, it produced modest agricultural benefits, was the site of small American and English outposts, and supported Wabanaki hunting, fishing and gathering.

Beneath and next to its examples of shingle-style architecture are its native ecosystems that have evolved over millennia: long sandy beaches, woodlands on the back dunes, forests in the few higher areas with better soil, the Maine coast’s ubiquitous rocks and cliffs, and the state’s largest salt marsh. The subject of this book is the Neck’s native ecosystems and the ways in which we may protect and enhance them by identifying and controlling what are commonly referred to as invasive plant species.

Words such as “native” and “invasive” are sometimes difficult to define. Here, “native” is used to describe the ecosystems and their flora and fauna that have evolved within the North American temperate broadleaf forest biome that extends through New England, across the Great Lakes and down the Ohio River valley. “Invasive” is used to describe species that came into existence and evolved in geographically distant biomes, often in Asia or Europe. Invasive species were brought here very recently on purpose, by us, with good intentions, however short-sighted those intentions were. They have their own niches in their native ecosystems, where they are part of the earth’s tremendous biodiversity. Yet, these species pose a serious threat to the biodiversity of the place into which they have been translocated; hence, the call-to-action use of the word “invasive.”

This Field Guide is another step toward achieving the goals laid out in the Prouts Neck Conservancy (PNC) bylaws: “elimination and disposal of plants classified as invasive by the State of

Maine…in order to protect vegetation that would otherwise be damaged or destroyed by such invasive species...and to preserve the area’s unique ecosystem[s]... Further, the Corporation (PNC) shall conduct specific programs and activities aimed at educating the youth on the proper identification and care of native plant life on Prouts Neck.”

With the publication of this Field Guide, PNC also aspires to share a kind of template for action by other comparably sized communities, near and far.