Interesting facts, thanks! It would have been difficult to imagine the extent of the problem here in the ANF if I had not seen it with my own eyes. I knew buckthorn was present here, but wow is that stuff aggressive.
> They've been a real big problem here in the western Great Lakes for 20-30 or > more years. They are still used as a landscape plant, although there is > finally serious talk about laws to eliminate there sale here. > > They've impeded prairie and wetland restoration and preservation efforts here > and are severely impacting savanna remnants. In wetlands, they've dropped > surface water tables (through transpiration) by up to 2 feet in some cases, > thereby aiding the introduction of other alien invasives in adjacent wetlands. > Local conservation groups have volunteer-based buckthorn busting events from > time to time. > > Lee has mentioned to me in the past that our black cherry is invasive in > Europe and out competes buckthorn there, while the opposite occurs here. > > They are hard on the chainsaws and wood chippers, and stump sprout > aggressively, requiring concentrated Round-up on fresh cut stumps to finish > them off. They are also very difficult to start on fire even on dried up > brush piles, but will burn extremely hot once they are started. > > I've also heard that waxwings actually prefer their berries, to their own > detriment. Apparently the coloring of bohemian/cedar waxwings changes if they > eat non-native berries such as buckthorn, and the males become less attractive > to females, thereby reducing their success at mating and maintaining their > population levels. > > Paul Jost --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
