Invaders!!
- Thread starter Leroy
- Start date
I would like to read the study that leads to that conclusion. If you could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.
http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.1614/IPSM-D-15-00010.1
Interestingly, this article seems to offer a counterpoint:
"honeysuckle positively affected SOC and N densities likely because of increased litter decomposition and altered microbial communities. Because honeysuckle increases forest net primary productivity (NPP) and SOC, it also may play a role in C sequestration."
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
I'll have a look at that when I have time to digest it later. Certainly changes rate of leaf litter decomp. That is very obvious. Never thought about that releasing the N more rapidly.
Here is the abstract for what I am pretty sure is the article. I had it on a computer from an old job and it doesn't look like I brought it home. I know it was done by Hutchenson... I'd bet he'll email you the full article if you ask.
Here is the abstract for what I am pretty sure is the article. I had it on a computer from an old job and it doesn't look like I brought it home. I know it was done by Hutchenson... I'd bet he'll email you the full article if you ask.
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
In Minnesota, maybe elsewhere, earthworms are invasive and not native.
Buckthorn...spit...establishes itself in the understory shading out Forbes and native undergrowth. Earthworms pull whatever leaf litter might be left underground leaving bare soil. With no duff or litter left the bare ground erodes and washes downhill
There are patches of native Old Growth Big Woods around. Never been clear cut. The soil level loss is obvious. Rootflares and trunks are now exposed
The CDC has done work with agencies trying to control invasive s. The strategies are the same...expensive, intensive and long term. Without money to maintain our human-needed infrastructure in federal, state local budgets I'm skeptical that that any progress will be made
Buckthorn...spit...establishes itself in the understory shading out Forbes and native undergrowth. Earthworms pull whatever leaf litter might be left underground leaving bare soil. With no duff or litter left the bare ground erodes and washes downhill
There are patches of native Old Growth Big Woods around. Never been clear cut. The soil level loss is obvious. Rootflares and trunks are now exposed
The CDC has done work with agencies trying to control invasive s. The strategies are the same...expensive, intensive and long term. Without money to maintain our human-needed infrastructure in federal, state local budgets I'm skeptical that that any progress will be made
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
Stink bugs on the move...pee...yuuu!
https://www.minnpost.com/earth-jour...licting-crops-and-overrunning-homes-across-us
https://www.minnpost.com/earth-jour...licting-crops-and-overrunning-homes-across-us
Do you happen to have any photos of these woods? I am curious to see what they look like.
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
There are darn few patches in Ohio. The land went from 90% forested pre-settlement to 10% forested by 1900...before the chainsaw was invented. It is back up to 30% now. A couple of patches they say are "old growth" (get 3 foresters to agree on a definition of that! - one I know points out 'just because it is virgin, doesn't mean it hasn't been fondled a bit'). 2 of the more notable ones are Johnson Woods and Goll Woods. (both linked). The pictures there aren't all that impressive. I don't know how you would get good pictures. There isn't much there for scale.
I wasn't that impressed with Johnson Woods. The first time I visited Goll Woods, I wasn't that impressed either...but I went back when I was asked to re-check the size of the state champion Shagbark Hickory. I was on the wrong side of the road before! I have seen and marked other 50+ inch DBH bur oak, but never a woods loaded with them. And the vast majority of the big ones ones are shorter logs because they were in a woods that was pastured for decades and decades (most of that ended in the 50's so a lot has grown up around those giants). In Goll woods, the first branch on several of the big trees was 40-50' up. I've been in other woods that had big timber in Ohio, VA, NY, NC, WV, etc... (not saying I've seen them all by any stretch! - also, remember much of what may have been virgin timber throughout the Appalachian region was severely impacted by Chestnut blight), but none as impressive as Goll Woods (they did lose some ash, but it wasn't a major component). Granted, it is not that impressive compared to some of the old forests of the northwest, but pretty spectacular for eastern hardwoods.
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
I might but I have no clue how to Find them
Here's a link for some in Minnesota
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forests_types/oldgrowth/visit.html
I've been to Wolsfeld Woods many times. Maple, basswood, buckthorn...spit
The Lost Forty was never logged. Five arbos climbed and spent the night up in them. Fun!
The others in the list are interesting. Different species as climax forest.
That should open the door for picture searches
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
Just heard a talk about invasive worms on Tuesday. Melany Fisk at Miami University (Ohio) is one of several around who study this.
A couple of points from their findings:
-Lower soil carbon reserves
-Less (or no) O horizon and the OA and A horizons are blended together.
-Available N stays about the same
-Soils (well...plants in the soil) are more drought sensitive (suspect this is related to some dieback in sugar maple stands in the north)
-Herbaceous diversity is suppressed
-There is a correlation to more invasive plant species (though they haven't researched the causation, just noted the correlation)
She also talked about how these worms are actually good in agricultural soils because they improve aggregation. Not a benefit to forest soils, but they do help reduce erosion of ag soils. Mentioned how difficult it is to get people to recognize more worms is not a good thing.
She specifically said she didn't think there was anything we could do about it except to try to avoid moving them to the few uninfested places.
SomethingWitty
Arkansawyer
- Location
- LR
I would not want to have to convince anyone that worms don't belong in any particular dirt.
I can hardly convince some people that their Bradford Pear really is making the world a worse place by spreading its spiky offspring and should go just like every other one.
I can hardly convince some people that their Bradford Pear really is making the world a worse place by spreading its spiky offspring and should go just like every other one.
You can paint me with that brush. Not a fan of the anti-worm movement. It has been building steam since what, about 1980? It is a classic example of the scientific community's "microscope syndrome". If you look really closely at a situation, you will discover all kinds of interesting facts. But it is still just looking at a singular piece of a very complex puzzle.
The world is always changing. New species get introduced others die, it is the way things work. Most of the forests of the world have worms. Nature does not create monocultural systems.
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
I've read a bit about the worm issue in MN. At first I was pretty skeptical. Then...wow! After seeing the results for myself in a few patches of Old Growth hardwood on the west side of Minneapolis my view has changed
I'm the same. You might convince me the worms are invaders. Tell me I need to pay to fix it, I'm at an impasse. Tell me "we' need to spray chemicals on it to "fix" it and I'll be more adamantly against it. Tell me you need to violate my long standing property rights to fix it and then possibly charge me for it, well I can't even express how against it I am. And those types of things are part of the conversation in many cases.
The face of the earth has changed many times over it's existence. Prairies were oceans. Lakes were mountain ranges. Humans have become smart enough to figure out what has happened over the last 0.00001% of it, and we are smart enough to know part of it is because of us. We are not smart enough to know that change always happens and there is pretty much nothing we can do about it.
As I type this I'll bet there are 1000s of dump trucks moving dirt and worms all around the state of MN. If there aren't there will be as soon as the frost restrictions are lifted ... just saying.
Also as I type this I am looking into a stand of about 50 mature black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) trees. Most are 80' to 100' tall. In my state these pervasive trees are considered an invasive species. My state says I should report the existence of this tree to help. The suggest herbicide treatments and mechanical removal as a course of action. These trees also make up 70% of the woods that I hike and bike in nearby. I am sadly waiting for the day when the state decides that these beautiful stands of woods that we all enjoy need to be destroyed. So far the method has been thousands of gallons of herbicide and grapple skidders. We have to save the woods from itself.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Black_Locust_389112_7.pdf
So, should I self report?
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
Wolsfeld Woods is the Scientific and Natural Area. There are other woods nearby that aren't public
The researcher was able to 'Date' the introduction of worms at a high enough density to cause damage. He crossed over to other places with lower densities. After the leaves and litter are pulled underground by the worms the soil is bare. The rainsheet erosion takes place. The original soil levels can be seen on the trunks.
We got a 6-9" snow a couple days ago. Still not melted. When the snow is gone I'll take a hike through Wolsfeld and share the pics.
I'm sure this researchers work is easily found if you're interested. He spoke at the Shade Tree Short Course. It's a compelling story. A lost cause too I think
The researcher was able to 'Date' the introduction of worms at a high enough density to cause damage. He crossed over to other places with lower densities. After the leaves and litter are pulled underground by the worms the soil is bare. The rainsheet erosion takes place. The original soil levels can be seen on the trunks.
We got a 6-9" snow a couple days ago. Still not melted. When the snow is gone I'll take a hike through Wolsfeld and share the pics.
I'm sure this researchers work is easily found if you're interested. He spoke at the Shade Tree Short Course. It's a compelling story. A lost cause too I think
Research is easy to find but has gotten much harder to access in the last few years. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-012-9554-y
"For 2 years, we compared disappearance of leaf litter in field mesocosms in which we manipulated litter composition (monocultures of Quercus rubra, Acer saccharum, and Tilia americana litter, and an equal mixture of all three) and thereby the initial litter chemistry (C, C fractions, N, Ca) in sites with and without the major litter-feeding invasive earthworm species. The disappearance of litter mass followed the same ranking at both the sites:"
"For 2 years, we compared disappearance of leaf litter in field mesocosms in which we manipulated litter composition (monocultures of Quercus rubra, Acer saccharum, and Tilia americana litter, and an equal mixture of all three) and thereby the initial litter chemistry (C, C fractions, N, Ca) in sites with and without the major litter-feeding invasive earthworm species. The disappearance of litter mass followed the same ranking at both the sites:"
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
Interesting. What I've seen is the loss of soil/erosion issue
I have read many reports and there is a serious problem in some of your hardwood forests. The evidence is not conclusive but the recommendations are all the same.
In the 2011 paper, "Invasion by Exotic Earthworms Altres Litter-and Soil-dwelling Oribatid Mites", co-authored by Melanie Fisk, a 22-page detailed report, in conclusions you will find this statement,"The mechanisms for such changes to mites are unknown at the present time...". Yet the closing recommendations read, "Hence, to maintain forest biodiversity, effective quarantine, and eradication, containment measures may be needed to reduce the current population levels and prevent the spread of exotic earthworms in non-invaded forest stands."
This all sounds so much like "the ants are killing my tree".
In the 2011 paper, "Invasion by Exotic Earthworms Altres Litter-and Soil-dwelling Oribatid Mites", co-authored by Melanie Fisk, a 22-page detailed report, in conclusions you will find this statement,"The mechanisms for such changes to mites are unknown at the present time...". Yet the closing recommendations read, "Hence, to maintain forest biodiversity, effective quarantine, and eradication, containment measures may be needed to reduce the current population levels and prevent the spread of exotic earthworms in non-invaded forest stands."
This all sounds so much like "the ants are killing my tree".
New threads New posts
-
test
-
-
-
-
-
Free CEUs: February 05 & March 05 - 'Urban Forestry Today' Webcasts @ Noon (Eastern)- Started by UFT
- Replies: 0
-
