Invasive Species

The autumn olive

The Autumn Olive or Russian Olive is an invasive tree from the Eurasia area, native to China, Korea, and Japan. The shrub was introduced to the United States when it was promoted in the 1950s as a great plant for wildlife habitat expansion and erosion control. However, the autumn olive soon began to grow out of its expected growth areas. Birds are attracted to the seeds and spread them throughout large land areas, enabling the autumn olive to expand its population. Once present in a location, the autumn olive will outgrow and out compete native plants due to a shocking growth rate. This creates a dense shade and ‘water-net’ that prevents lower, slower-growing native plants from getting water and sunlight, effectively choking out native species and dominating forests. To top off its fast growth and easy spread via birds, its roots are adept at growing even in unfavorable soil. The autumn olive is a real danger to native forests.

The Project

One of the main reasons the autumn olive was brought to America was due to its function in preventing erosion. Esox Pond at the Environmental Education Center is a man-made pond, and its banks were hard to maintain without fast plant growth. Thus, the autumn olive was introduced for erosion control, but spread to a large area of the park. The project focuses on the removal of the autumn olive near the road and along the bank of Esox Pond. The removal of the autumn olive came in multiple steps. First, after the preliminary project planning, the trees that we wanted to remove were marked. After we identified the trees that we wanted to take out, they were cut down using chainsaws (EEC staff use), hand-saws, and plant-clippers. After the plants were removed, a new layer of native plants were planted in their place. This would ensure that the invasives did not grow back. In addition to these preventative measures for re-growth, herbicide was also applied to the autumn olives. The project was a huge success in ridding the EEC of the Autumn Olive.

Invasive Species Efforts/Research Document:

To learn more about the autumn olive invasive species and its negative effects on the environment visit the Nature Conservancy’s page on the species. You can find the link here:
https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/stories-in-indiana/autumn-olive/
To learn about and possibly get involved in efforts to combat invasive species in New Jersey, visit the NJ Invasive Species Strike Team’s website at:
https://www.fohvos.info/invasive-species-strike-team/

To learn more about my invasive species project, check out this research document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_VUze9gmvhg0hno8WI_W2x8bF4BnpCpXCBuGpNu8Z90/edit?usp=sharing