The Nature Conservancy in New York - NNY Spring/Summer 2007: Catskill Mountains

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In the Catskills region, the Norway maple is fortunately still limited to a few areas, making it a prime target for control efforts.

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The NYS Invasive Species Task Force
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aims to abate the threat to Earth’s diversity posed by invasive plants, animals, and diseases through a combination of prevention, early detection, eradication, restoration, research and outreach.

Norway maples, native to Europe, were once widely planted as shade and street trees in the U.S. Their ability to grow in poor, compacted soil and their resistance to urban pollution makes them ideal for city streets. However, the Norway maple reproduces quickly and its seeds travel easily over the wind both locally and to new areas where they were not originally intended to go.

With a powerful ability to thrive in extremely low light and less than optimal conditions, the maples can easily crowd out native trees in natural forested areas and quickly dominate the forest vegetation. The result, in addition to decreased biological diversity, is the disappearance of the understory growth, which make soils increasingly susceptible to erosion.

In the Catskills region, however, the Norway maple is fortunately still limited to a few areas, making it a prime target for control efforts.

The Eastern New York Chapter recently completed an invasive plant inventory that assessed the threat of invasive plant species like the Norway maple in the Catskills region and tracked the relationships between commercial and residential development, connecting roads, and invasive species distribution. The results so far indicate that the Norway maple spreads more rapidly and over a larger area in locations that are disturbed or developed, and its dispersal follows the region’s major roads and transportation routes.

To control species like the Norway maple from spreading, the chapter’s Catskill Mountain Program is working with partners to develop the Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (CRISP), a comprehensive invasive species control program. Over the next year, CRISP will develop prevention and control strategies, a firewood policy for state campgrounds*, an “invasives free” certification for local garden shops and plant nurseries, and establish demonstration projects to showcase the efforts of these partnerships.

* The transportation of firewood across township and county lines is an important factor in the local spread of invasive species.

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