Why are invasives bad?
The following is adapted from the U.S. Forest Service website, DCNR website, and Xerces Plant Society, linked below.
Invasive plants are any plant species that are not originally from the ecosystem that they are present in, and who's introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.
Invasive plants may have one or more of the following qualities:
- producing large quantities of seed
-the ability to thrive on disturbed soil (like a construction site)
- have aggressive root systems that can spread long distances from the original plant, and pop out new plants from their roots
-extremely dense root systems that prevent and/or smother the growth of surrounding vegetation
-produce chemicals in their leaves or root systems that inhibit the growth of other plants around them.
Why do we care what grows in our wilderness? Well, the food we grow comes from our land, and over 35% of our food crops rely on pollination to reproduce (apples, almonds, tomatoes, and cucumbers are some crops that rely on animal pollination). When invasives take over an area, they disrupt the ecosystem that they're inserted in, and have negative impacts on our native pollinators. Some pollinators are generalists, meaning that they can pollinate many different species of plants, or they are specialists, who only pollinate one species of plant.
When invasives take over a space, they reduce the amount of pollinators present. Now remember, pollinators are not just butterflies and bees. Flies, wasps, moths, beetles, birds, bats, and mammals can be pollinators. When their food needs are not met, they disappear. When they disappear, their food cycle goes with them, and disrupts the entire system.
Some impacts include the increase of pest species (like how some beneficial wasps keep aphids and other crop-damaging insects in check), the degradation of our soils, agricultural lands, and wildlife habitat, degraded water quality and increased soil erosion, and more.
Links for more info:
Below are some invasive shrubs that are prevalent on campus.
Russian OliveLarge populations along the cross country and panther trails. That population is worrisome to me because it is a promising shrubland habitat, if the gray dogwoods and arrowwood viburnum saplings have the chance to establish themselves.
How to identify: https://extension.umn.edu/identify-invasive-species/russian-olive Also the berries are edible and apparently make good jam! |
Multiflora RoseYes, it's pretty. And very fragrant. But it chokes out everything around it. I have freed several small trees from their thorny vines and they are NOT fun to remove.
We have way prettier, native roses (like swamp rose, which is found on campus) that could replace this annoying plant. Several sections of the cross country trails are overrun with them, and they have taken over the wetland beside the trailhead of the rocky run trail. Very sad to see such an important resource, the wetland, be taken over by such a junky shrub vine. How to identify: http://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/PDFProvider.ashx?action=PDFStream&docID=3643152&chksum=&revision=0&docName=MultifloraRose&nativeExt=pdf&PromptToSave=False&Size=11877376&ViewerMode=2&overlay=0 |
Japanese Barberry<< Not my picture
Thorny and a fast spreader. It escaped cultivation like the rest of them, but this one is still used as a landscaping shrub with purple leaves. These are found along Fern trail and I have also seen them around Rocky Run trail. They are pretty annoying to remove due to their thorns and they also regenerate quickly, so make sure you pull the entire root out. Any root fragment left in soil will produce a new plant. Can be identified by its interesting leaf shape and bright red berries (NOT EDIBLE). How to identify: efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/references/public/WV/JAPANESEBARBERRYFACTSHEETWVUCES2015.pdf Japanese barberry has been linked to higher density of lyme disease-infected ticks, and tick populations around japanese barberry are significantly higher compared to other shrubs. www.dcnr.pa.gov/goodnatured/Pages/Article.aspx?post=116 |
Bush Honeysuckles<<< not my picture
Bush honeysuckles are fast-growing shrubs reaching heights of 20 feet in some instances. It produces fragrant, cream-yellow flowers in the spring and are one of the first plants to push out their leaves in the springtime. Berries are red and plump (NOT EDIBLE). How to identify: mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/bush-honeysuckles |