Invasive Species Awareness Week

It is Invasive Species Awareness Week at Bays Mountain Park! To celebrate, we’re sharing information about invasive species that Tennessee is currently battling, and ways that we can help manage them.

Kudzu (Pueraria montana)

If you have ever driven down the road and noticed a thick blanket of greenery covering a hillside, including telephone poles and power lines, then you have seen “the vine that ate the South!” Kudzu is a fast-growing vine native to East Asia, once praised for its ability to decrease erosion. Now, it is recognized as an invasive species that chokes out its competition by blocking necessary sunlight and even grabbing and pulling other plants out by the root. Once these vines take over, it can be difficult to combat their rapid spread. So, what can we do to help decrease the effect of this invasive species? Livestock such as goats and cattle will eat the vines, eventually cutting back the plant to a controllable size. Kudzu also begins to stem out from a single root, so finding its location in the soil and cutting as close to the ground as possible will kill the vine and prevent it from growing further. If cut with a lawn mower or weed eater, it is advised to clean the blades thoroughly before use in other areas to prevent sprouts from being carried to potentially new growth sites.

Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica)

Japanese beetles are found all across the Southern United States. When buried underground as larvae, grass and plant roots become a main meal until they mature and emerge from the ground in late Spring, causing turf to turn brown. Once an adult, they prefer to chew on leaves of agricultural and ornamental plants, often hindering the ability for those plants to grow and produce flowers. In 2018, it was estimated that agricultural damage from these beetles could cost $450 million every year! So, what can we do about this invasive, hungry species? If we’re looking for our yards to showcase healthy shade trees, planting beetle-resistant trees and shrubs like begonia grandis, red maple, forget-me-not, and tulip poplar may reduce damage to property. Today, many stores also sell simple Japanese beetle traps designed to lure the pest without exposing other plants and wildlife to harmful insecticides, which can kill pollinators.

Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maachii)

This ornamental bush is often planted for the look of its bright red berries and sweet-smelling flowers. However, the amur honeysuckle often becomes the villain in whatever terrain it is planted in. Its high adaptability to its surroundings allows it to grow across Tennessee, and with the leaves producing faster than many native species, the honeysuckle quickly blocks other flora from rooting or maturing on the forest floor. In addition, while the berries these shrubs produce are safe for local wildlife, they do not contain quite the amount of nutrients needed by annual migratory birds and mammals building fat for winter. Today, the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council considers the amur, or bush, honeysuckle a significant threat across the state. To manage this invasive species in our local forests, the positive is they can be uprooted fairly easily. In areas where tools are needed, it is important to dig up any buried roots that may get left behind, as simply cutting the plant at the base or burning the shrub will not prevent it from growing back.