Initiative Targets Invasive Plants that Threaten Wildlife

Call to Gardeners, Nurseries and Landowners to Take Action

Burlington, Vermont — 01 Mar 2007 — Efforts to control invasive plants in the Lake Champlain Basin got a boost today with the launch of a new public outreach and education campaign spearheaded by the Champlain Basin Invasive Plant Partnership. The partnership, formed by a group of local land trusts, horticulture experts and state and federal agencies, is calling for gardeners, horticulturalists and homeowners to help combat invasive plants that pose a major threat to wildlife and forests. The program is focusing on the Champlain Valley where a moderate climate and rich soils support a wide variety of plant and animal species, and where the subdivision and development of forest patches has provided an easy entry point for invasive plants.

The main culprits that are invading woodlands and wetlands in Vermont include: garlic mustard (Alliaria petioloata), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), burning bush (Euonymus alata), Norway maple (Acer platanoides), Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), bush honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), giant reed (Phragmites australis) and common and glossy buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica and R. frangula).

Garlic mustard, with a deft combination of fast early growth and the release of a natural herbicide, can crowd out and replace favorite Vermont wildflowers like white trillium, hepatica and Jack in the pulpit. Butterflies including the mustard white and the rare West Virginia white can be seen as early as April flitting about open meadows and wooded areas seeking a mustard plant on which to lay their eggs. Sadly when a butterfly mistakenly selects an invasive garlic mustard rather than a native mustard species to lay her eggs, the young caterpillar will find the leaves inedible.

The return of the hermit thrush whose song heralds the arrival of spring, is threatened by the spread of invasive shrubs like honeysuckle and buckthorn. Berries from these invasive shrubs provide less nutrients than native berries and their fall consumption by the birds can result in higher mortality during the winter. An additional threat is posed to low-nesting birds like the robin and some species of thrush by the branch structure of non-native shrubs which give easier access to predators hunting for eggs and young chicks.

Sara Kuebbing, the program's coordinator, recently hired by The Nature Conservancy, is personally motivated to tackle this problem. “While studying wood thrush in Delaware I began to notice how much the different types of vegetation affected the birds. Where garlic mustard and multi-flora rose had replaced native species in the understory, the wood thrush was noticeably absent,” she says.

Gardeners and landowners can take three easy steps to tackle the problem of invasives:

1) IDENTIFY: Invite Sara Kuebbing to give a presentation on invasive plants and their alternatives to your local garden club, conservation commission, library, neighbors or friends.

2) REMOVE: Follow environmentally friendly guidelines to quickly and effectively remove invasive plants from your yard and garden.

3) REPLACE: Encourage garden centers to sell some of the many native and non-invasive alternative plants that have beautiful blooms, form and foliage.

Businesses in the Champlain Valley, especially those in prominent locations with visible landscaping, are being encouraged to lead the charge and sign up as demonstration sites. Horticultural experts will visit the site, assess the current plant mix, and suggest attractive alternatives when invasive species are found. After completing steps 2 and 3, remove and replace, businesses will be placed on the honor role and promoted as part of the public outreach campaign.

Kuebbing believes the strong connection to place and concern for the environment in the Champlain Valley give this program a strong chance of success. “I’ll know the message is being heard when I am inundated with calls for information,” she jokes.

Learn more at the Vermont Flower Show, March 9th-11th.
This year’s theme at the Vermont Flower Show, “A Walk on the Wild Side,” explores the intersection between wilderness and human culture, and more specifically between our gardens and the natural communities of Vermont. On Saturday the 10th, look for experts on invasive species in the main exhibit and through out the weekend visit the Invasive Exotic Plant Council booth for information on how to identify, remove and replace the invaders.

For more information contact Sara Kuebbing at (802) 229-4425, skuebbing@tnc.org or visit www.nature.org/vermont.

###

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, The Nature Conservancy and its approximately one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. The Vermont Chapter, chartered in 1960, has helped conserve over 170,000 acres of significant natural areas throughout the state, and maintains 43 nature preserves. Visit us on the Web at www.nature.org/vermont.