As with much of the historic agricultural land across New England, Viles Arboretum has found itself home to an overabundance of invasive plant species.
Invasive species are defined as species occurring outside their natural range which are able to reproduce within their introduced range and presents a threat to native species or ecosystems in which they inhabit. Frequently these species are capable of outcompeting naturally occurring species for resources and have few or no limiting factors in their introduced range, allowing them to spread uncontrolled.