invasives species
SO MUCH INFORMATION, WHERE DO I START?
If you have something on your property that you think is invasive, we can point you in the right direction. The websites and materials below will help you identify mysterious plants, insects, tree diseases, critters, etc. and help determine if it is or will become invasive.
WHAT IS AN INVASIVE SPECIES?
1. Non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and
2. whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.
3. Plants, animals, insects and even tiny microbes can be considered invasive.
If you have something on your property that you think is invasive, we can point you in the right direction. The websites and materials below will help you identify mysterious plants, insects, tree diseases, critters, etc. and help determine if it is or will become invasive.
WHAT IS AN INVASIVE SPECIES?
1. Non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and
2. whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.
3. Plants, animals, insects and even tiny microbes can be considered invasive.
Invasive Species Highlight
Oriental Bittersweet
Where did THAT come from?
Maybe you’ve ended up with a stiff back from pulling garlic mustard in the spring, or punctured hands from removing barberry bushes. Now there’s another really noxious weed that is sure to strain your body as well as your trees: oriental bittersweet.
This nasty vine was introduced over 100 years ago as an ornamental, and has now taken advantage of its welcome by crawling over everything. We do have a native bittersweet that is better behaved, and is on Michigan’s list of Special Concern species. Identification differences are that the invasive bittersweet has oblong, finely toothed, glossy leaves. Both the native and Oriental species have similar colored, deep orange to scarlet fruits with a yellowish outer skin, but the invasive vines have those fruits distributed along the entire branch. The native species has these fruits only at the ends of the branches.
Oriental bittersweet has become abundant in southern Michigan, creeping along forest edges and openings and overtopping mature trees. These vines can strangle smaller trunks and branches, reduce access to sunlight, and grow heavy enough in tree crowns to pull them down. As with a lot of our ‘successful’ invasive woody plants, mowing or just casual pulling without removing all the roots only stimulates new and more growth. As it established by seed most easily on mineral soil, prescribed burning alone will also not control it.
How bad can it get? Just ask one of our wonderful MFA members from northern Washtenaw County, Whitney Field. This nasty vine has overrun several of the open areas of their property, as you can see from the pictures here (which, according to Whitney, is not the worst infested area). Trying to be a responsible landowner, he tried manually to remove the invasive with no progress. Resorting to an herbicide, triclopyr, was the next desperate step, being careful to avoid spraying on trees or other desirable broadleaves. He is hopeful that this approach is starting to put a dent in the infestation, but it does show how these nasty problems can quickly run away on a property and become a lifetime struggle. Or, at least until something else comes along…
Keep an eye out for this vine, knock it out when it’s still controllable, and report it to the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network website (https://www.misin.msu.edu/) to help researchers get a better handle on its distribution and spread. If it’s at all possible, check with your neighbors, too, to coordinate control efforts. Your trees will thank you!
If you’d like to explore more information on Oriental bittersweet, the Michigan Natural Features Inventory has a great publication online: https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/invasive-species/OrientalBittersweetBCP.pdf
This nasty vine was introduced over 100 years ago as an ornamental, and has now taken advantage of its welcome by crawling over everything. We do have a native bittersweet that is better behaved, and is on Michigan’s list of Special Concern species. Identification differences are that the invasive bittersweet has oblong, finely toothed, glossy leaves. Both the native and Oriental species have similar colored, deep orange to scarlet fruits with a yellowish outer skin, but the invasive vines have those fruits distributed along the entire branch. The native species has these fruits only at the ends of the branches.
Oriental bittersweet has become abundant in southern Michigan, creeping along forest edges and openings and overtopping mature trees. These vines can strangle smaller trunks and branches, reduce access to sunlight, and grow heavy enough in tree crowns to pull them down. As with a lot of our ‘successful’ invasive woody plants, mowing or just casual pulling without removing all the roots only stimulates new and more growth. As it established by seed most easily on mineral soil, prescribed burning alone will also not control it.
How bad can it get? Just ask one of our wonderful MFA members from northern Washtenaw County, Whitney Field. This nasty vine has overrun several of the open areas of their property, as you can see from the pictures here (which, according to Whitney, is not the worst infested area). Trying to be a responsible landowner, he tried manually to remove the invasive with no progress. Resorting to an herbicide, triclopyr, was the next desperate step, being careful to avoid spraying on trees or other desirable broadleaves. He is hopeful that this approach is starting to put a dent in the infestation, but it does show how these nasty problems can quickly run away on a property and become a lifetime struggle. Or, at least until something else comes along…
Keep an eye out for this vine, knock it out when it’s still controllable, and report it to the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network website (https://www.misin.msu.edu/) to help researchers get a better handle on its distribution and spread. If it’s at all possible, check with your neighbors, too, to coordinate control efforts. Your trees will thank you!
If you’d like to explore more information on Oriental bittersweet, the Michigan Natural Features Inventory has a great publication online: https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/invasive-species/OrientalBittersweetBCP.pdf
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Are we missing something? Please let us know: oaklandconservation@gmail.com
Are we missing something? Please let us know: oaklandconservation@gmail.com
To learn more about the Early Detection Rapid Response Project, please visit:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Michigan_EDRR_Project_Update_12-12_405851_7.pdf
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/EDRR_Project_Overview_396830_7.pdf
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Michigan_EDRR_Project_Update_12-12_405851_7.pdf
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/EDRR_Project_Overview_396830_7.pdf