[APWG] Ecorestoration; other issues in the East

[SteveYoung at aol.com]

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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