Invasive Plant News

We are all guilty of this – if something is good, more must be better.  Too many prescribed burns, however, may harm ecological diversity – at least in some ecosystems.  The problem is that Mediterranean-climate plants such as those found in Australia may not be fire-adapted.

The findings are from scientists from the University of Western Australia, Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth and Kew Gardens in London.  They will be published this month in Trends in Plant Science.

A more detailed articles appears in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Penn State Researchers, Tomás Carlo, an assistant professor of biology, and Jason Gleditsch, a biology graduate student, recently examined how invasive fruiting plants affect ecosystems.  According to their research, the effect of invasive fruiting plants can be beneficial to an ecological community.

Carlo and Gleditsch studied bush honeysuckle by sectioning off an area of central Pennsylvania in which honeysuckle, an invasive, grows abundantly. The researchers compared their data with similar data from urban, agricultural, and forested areas and determined that the abundance of honeysuckle increased the numbers and diversity of birds within the region and even beyond the region.

The research will be published in the journal Diversity and Distributions.  It is sure to spur debate on the effects of invasive species.  From the news reports however it is difficult to assess how the researchers assessed biological diversity in heavily invested versus restored areas.

Small investments in parks make sense.  Even $10 a year per capita has been shown to provide significantly increased amounts of physical activity.  This is one of the findings of a recent report The Benefits of Physical Activity: the Scientific Evidence. by researchers at Penn State, Geoffrey Godbey and Andrew Mowen.

Our neighborhood absolutely loves our little neighborhood park – almost to death.  By late summer the playing fields are mostly dirt – a skating rink in the winter;  soccer, baseball; ultimate frisbee, dogs, etc. – all take their toll on that little patch of green.  But our neighborhood would be far poorer if it weren’t there.

Minnesota Woods in Winter

In an earlier post, Invasive Weed Trees – Herbicide Use – Time of Year – Apply in Winter! I discussed why herbicide treatments are so effective in the winter – at least for buckthorn in a northern climate.   There are other reasons to do applications in late fall and winter.

First, without the leaves on the trees, it is much easier to maneuver and to see the stems or trunks.  For many species of trees it’s relatively easy to identify the tree from the bark and tree structure.  For buckthorn, all you need to do, if you are uncertain, is scrap away a little of the outer bark to see if the inner bark is the tell-tale orange-red.

Second, there are no bugs!  Enough said.

Third, if you have a good snow cover, you can burn the invasive trees you cut immediately.

Fourth, it’s a great excuse to get outside!

The University of Wisconsin Extension has put out some really nice videos on identification of selected invasive plants.  Here are the plants covered in the videos:

1. Black swallow-wort
2. Bush honeysuckles
3. Canada thistle
4. Common tansy
5. Creeping bellflower
6. Dame’s rocket
7. Garlic mustard
8. Hill mustard
9. Leafy spurge
10. Plumeless thistle
11. Spotted knapweed
12. Teasel
13. Wild chervil