[MAIPC] A conjecture on invasive vines and tree falls

[Ruth Douglas]

I’m going to try to contact someone in VDOT (Va. Dept. of Transportation) and someone at Virginia Power to see if anyone there is looking at the role of invasive vines in trees down in storms.

 

Ruth Douglas

Invasive Plant Educator, VNPS

 

From: MAIPC [mailto:maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org] On Behalf Of Nathan Hartshorne
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2018 6:41 PM
To: frazmo
Cc: MAIPC Listserve (maipc at lists.maipc.org)
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] A conjecture on invasive vines and tree falls

 

Perhaps the previous ivy spread had stopped development of an understory that would have helped prevent windthrow since the gaps in a forest can help facilitate it.

 

On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 5:32 PM, frazmo <frazmo at gmail.com> wrote:

Continuing from the recent thread, it seems intuitively obvious that the weight and windload burden of invasive vine growth would cause mature trees to be more vulnerable to high winds. But I also conjecture that non-native invasive vines may have "ghost" impacts even when they have been removed. Based on personal observations at Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington VA, we have lost dozens of mature trees due to wind storms from Hurricane Isabel (2003) to now. My sense is that a disproportionate fraction fell in areas that had been heavily blanketed in English Ivy growth circa pre-2004.

Even though the ivy had been removed, the trees fell. The conjecture is that the invasives' growth had altered soil characteristics and tree root growth patterns in ways that left the trees more vulnerable going forward.

I agree that this whole area seems like a great topic for research and this is just one more angle to consider. Cheers,

Steve Young, volunteer, Arlington VA


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