[APWG] Ecorestoration; other issues in the East
SteveYoung at aol.com
SteveYoung at aol.com
Wed Jan 18 09:07:58 CST 2006
I took note of Craig's comments about damage to the understory observed in
the eastern US and Marc Imlay's response. I will add two points. We often have
severe problems in fragmented habitat areas (i.e. ex-/sub-/urbanized) around
here thanks to overbrowsing by our native friend the White-Tailed Deer whose
numbers have exploded in recent decades. At Great Falls, the deer likely
avoid the drop-offs. Second, and this is an issue that many of us wish to
understand better, non-native earthworms indeed seem to be "hosing" the top layers
of soil with the result that many areas don't have the natural layer of leaf
duff that should be present. Mineral soil is exposed. This seems to facilitate
the spread of some of our problems like Garlic Mustard and Japanese
Stiltgrass even as it harms the natives that need the organic soil layers. So these
issues need to be considered at least around here.
Cheers,
Steve Young
Arlington, Virginia
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