Invasion of the tree snatchers

By Diane Davies Dixon

At a glance, the woodlands of Black Ditch Park across from Harry S. Truman High School in Bristol Township appear to be graced with a carpet of colorful shrubbery.

But what you are seeing isn’t the native landscape; it’s an attack by invasive vines that is overwhelming the forest not only in the park but throughout open space in Lower Bucks, according to Dale Frazier, president and founder of Greenbelt Overhaul Alliance of Levittown.

The vines are known as the porcelain berry, an alien species that is causing environmental harm in many areas along the East Coast, according to The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

A native of northeast Asia, the plant began life in North America as an ornamental bedding and screening plant. Birds ate the berries and soon spread the seeds in their droppings, causing the rapid spread of the vine from New England to North Carolina and west to Ontario and Michigan.

Photo by Diane Davies-Dixon

The plant grows quickly and can be difficult to remove once well established.

G.O.A.L. is looking into ways to raise funds for equipment needed to dig up and remove the strong root systems of the porcelain berry. A permanent disposal method is needed, according to Frazier.

“Last spring a group of volunteers removed 20 yards of vines which filled the back of four pickup trucks,” said Frazier.

The vines grew back quickly since the roots weren’t removed.

“The worst porcelain berry location is across from Truman,” said Frazier, adding the plant “steals the trees’ nutrients.”

He noted the plant can’t support itself so it needs to climb, weakening the trees and resulting in their collapse.

Pennsylvania over the years has faced unintended consequences of the importation of plants.

One of them is the highly active weed called the multiflora rose.

At one time it was planted nationwide on highly erodible ground to slow erosion. Between the 1930s and 1960s the plant was distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state game commission and bureau of forestry. But with the high seed production and birds gathering the seeds and dropping them elsewhere, the multiflora rose spread out of control, according to www.agriculture.state.pa.us.

“Invasives wipe out more than forestry,” said Frazier, noting animals in woodlands become imperiled.

Some of the most invasive plants in the Bucks County area affecting the ecosystem are garlic mustard (flower), purple loosestrife (flower), Japanese knotweed (flower), shattercane (grass), multiflora rose (shrub), Norway maple (tree), tree of heaven (tree) and mile-a-minute vine (vine).

For link:http://www.phillyburbs.com/00redesign/news/local/invasion-of-the-tree-snatchers/article_91d17c36-a608-5c78-9ac5-c1f662192f01.html?mode=image&photo=1