[APWG] Maryland Native Plant Society, Anacostia Watershed Society and Sierra Club Habitat Stewardship Committee Report for 2006
Marc Imlay
ialm at erols.com
Fri Mar 2 06:36:31 CST 2007
Hi folks,
Your readers can go to <http://www.anacostiaws.org/> www.anacostiaws.org
and click on programs
then click on
<http://www.anacostiaws.org/Programs/Resotration/Invasives/plantremoval.html
> Non-Native Plant Removal
for A Report on the Progress of Invasive Plant Control Program at AWS
Maryland Native Plant Society, Anacostia Watershed Society and Sierra Club
Habitat Stewardship Committee Report for 2006
Marc
_____
From: Marc Imlay [mailto:ialm at erols.com]
Sent: Sun 1/14/2007 9:10 AM
To: ficmnew
Subject: [ficmnew] Habitat Stewardship 2006 for MNPS, AWS and Sierra Club
Maryland Native Plant Society, Anacostia Watershed Society and Sierra Club
Habitat Stewardship Committee Report for 2006
Non-native invasive species of plants such as English Ivy, Japanese
Stiltgrass
and Kudzu are covering the natural areas that we in the conservation
movement
have worked so hard to protect from habitat destruction, erosion and water
pollution. Just as we are making progress on wetlands, stream bank
stabilization,
and endangered species, these plants from other parts of the world have
typically
covered 20-90% of the surface area of our forests, streams and meadows.
Many of us feel demoralized and powerless to combat these invaders that
have few natural herbivores or other controls.
The Maryland Native Plant Society, Anacostia Watershed Society and Sierra
Club
are establishing a program to provide local groups and public and private
landowners with several models to draw upon in the region. We are assisting
in
developing a major work effort (three to five years) at each site to remove
massive
populations of about a dozen species. Regular stewardship projects are
conducted
in all seasons including winter, early spring, late spring, summer, and late
summer.
This high-intensity program is followed by a low-intensity annual
maintenance
program to eliminate plants we have missed, plants emerging from the seed
bank,
and occasional plants migrating in from neighboring areas.
Attachment A announces regular monthly projects at over 40 sites in Maryland
almost all of which were initially started as a result of on-the-ground
workshops
conducted by current MNPS members in Charles County and Montgomery
County. The Nature Conservancy has also conducted projects on natural areas
for many years. MNPS and the Sierra Club sponsor the monthly projects at
Chapman Forest (800 acres), Swann Park (200 acres) and Greenbelt National
Park (1.5 square miles). They co-sponsor Little Paint Branch Park (150
acres)
and Cherry Hill Road Community Park (15 acres) removals in Beltsville and
Magruder Park in Hyattsville MD (15 acres) with the Anacostia Watershed
Society and provide considerable assistance to the other projects.
These sites serve as a visible example of what can be accomplished. MNPS
with Montgomery County and Prince Georges County MNCPPC, Sierra Club
and Anacostia Watershed Society developed signs, announcements, flyers,
safety and plant identification handouts, sign in sheets and evaluation
forms
(attachment B). A summary of AWS generated invasive plant control progress
in 2006 (attachment C) is in chronological order where AWS engaged a total
of 1082 volunteers at 12 selected parks including one native plant
restoration
site. Swann Park had 99 volunteers and Chapman Forest had 78 volunteers.
The biggest challenge is to ensure that in subsequent years all the
successful
projects are carried on by responsible entities. Our advice to others
considering
similar projects are to recognize that restoration of our native ecosystem
is
realistic but requires an appropriate level of work effort.
Many of us have done extensive surveys of this area and find that at least
80%
of the natural areas are salvageable with a combination of mechanical and
carefully targeted chemical control and no requirement for re-vegetation.
The natives return on their own since they initially covered the majority of
the surface area. We remove all the class 1 and class 2 exotic species,
typically 5-20 species, because otherwise if you just eradicate one exotic
another one may replace the one removed.
Our policy is to use carefully targeted, biodegradable herbicides in natural
areas,
such as glyphosate and triclopyr, that do not migrate through the soil to
other
plants. Instead of spraying invasive trees such as Ailanthus, Norway Maple,
and Chinese Privet we inject concentrated herbicide into the tree either by
basal bark, hack and squirt or cut stump. Seedlings are easy to hand pull.
We
wait for wet soil after a rain to hand pull, first loosening with a garden
tool such
as a 4 prong spading fork so the center of the plant rises perceptively. At
the
200 acre Swann Park, where we are essentially in maintenance phase after 5
years, 17 of the 19 non-native species are eradicated or nearly so. Only
Japanese
Stiltgrass and Garlic Mustard remain serious. Attachment D.
All the methods, techniques and/or findings of these projects can be used
where the initial cover of non-native invasive species is less than 30% of
the
total plant cover and adequately where under 70% cover. At higher percent
coverage the chemical component is more overwhelming and native plant
re-vegetation may be necessary with native species that are not cultivars
and
are obtained from the wild or from nursery stocks originally collected
locally
in the wild. There are several well researched species mixes that include
12-16
herbaceous and shrub species including nitrogen fixers. Attachment E
summarizes the status of native plant restoration at Woodworth Park.
Over 120 professionals and volunteers participated in The Demolition Derby
Field Session of the WEED BUSTERS Invasive Plant Workshop at Frelinghuysen
Arboretum, Morristown, New Jersey, August 9, 2006 which provided practical
experience with sites where it is best to use mechanical control and sites
where
it is efficacious to employ chemical control of Japanese Stiltgrass,
Wineberry,
Garlic Mustard, Oriental Bittersweet, Multiflora Rose, Japanese Barberry,
and
Tree of Heaven. Other invasive species include Porcelain-berry,
Mile-a-Minute
and Japanese Knotweed. My presentation was How Our Monthly Invasive Plant
Removal Project Restored Habitats in 40+ Maryland Sites". This non-native
invasive plant removal reaches maintenance phase following major work
efforts
at each site through a 5 year long combination of mechanical and carefully
targeted chemical control.
Carole F. Bergmann serves as Forest Ecologist/Field Botanist for the
Maryland
National Capital Park & Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) in Montgomery County,
MD and presented Mobilizing Citizens to Battle Invasives in a Large County
Park
System" Learn from our 8 years of experience of reaching out to educate,
encourage and train 480 citizen volunteers to direct their time and effort
towards
forest stewardship as WEED WARRIORS
Following is my original exploration to a broad audience about the pros and
cons of combining true prairie and native meadow restoration with
alternative
energy. This was followed up by a productive discussion this Fall
(attachment F):
-----Original Message-----
At the meeting today we talked about the need for ecological research on
growing
native American Switch Grass as both a bio-fuel and component of prairie and
meadow restoration. We at the Anacostia Watershed Society are planning to
grow Switch Grass along the banks of the Anacostia as a component of
restoration
and may be able to contribute to the research.
The following article by Danielle Murray, Earth Policy Institute, advocates
environmentally responsible sources of biomass energy. In particular she
notes that
"One likely candidate is Switch Grass, a tall perennial grass used by
farmers to
protect land from erosion. It requires minimal irrigation, fertilizer, or
herbicides
but yields 2-3 times more ethanol per acre than corn does."
Research is urgent to determine if switch grass is a practicable source of
bio-fuel
when harvested from native prairie and meadow restoration. It is great as a
crop
but if it is also good when harvested as a dominate component of native
ecosystem
restoration we would have an environmental benefit as well as an alternative
energy
benefit. Native prairie restoration would get a much needed boost across
millions
of acres in vast areas of the United States that were natural prairies in
pre-colonial
times.
Fortunately the research just takes a few years unlike forest restoration
research.
Research will probably yield good results but is still necessary for us to
be sure.
Maintenance of these open ecosystems is carried out by a mosaic pattern of
fire
and/or grazing that follows the natural pattern of fire and grazing by bison
and
other grazers. Maintenance mowing is done once a year in mid or late summer
about one foot above ground. Switch grass is a dominant component of native
American prairie and meadow species along with Indian Grass, Joe-pye Weed
and Bluestem.
It would be great to have your opinion on the status of research on this
issue and
what we should advocate. Could you also forward this to researchers with the
Kansas restoration project. Cheers.
Marc Imlay, PhD
Conservation biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society
(301-699-6204, 301-283-0808)
Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council,
Hui o Laka at Kokee State Park, Hawaii
Vice president of the Maryland Native Plant Society,
Chair of the Biodiversity and Habitat Stewardship Committee
for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Thanks again everyone! Marc
Remember our five year goal: It is considered standard that such invasive
plant
removal projects are normally done throughout the region, the nation, and
the world.
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