Though Not New, Invasive Tallow Tree Moving Fast - Creates Monoculture, Alters Soil Chemistry

[hatrack]

ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2010) — A study by a USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station scientist shows the numbers of nonnative Chinese tallowtree in Louisiana, Mississippi and east Texas grew by about 370 percent over a 16-year period. The spread of the invasive plant may create problems for plants and wildlife along the Gulf coast.

Tallowtree is a deciduous plant with heart-shaped leaves that grows to 60 feet in height. It invades stream banks, riverbanks, and wet areas like ditches as well as upland sites. Large seeds containing oil are spread by numerous large bird species. The tree is native to China and was introduced to South Carolina in the 1700s. There are approximately 457,000 acres of tallowtree in nine of the 13 southern states. Experts say tallowtree can change the chemical properties of soil and alter the composition and structure of native plant communities. Additionally, litter from the plant may alter habitat in invaded wetland areas, which could affect some frog and other amphibian species.

"I examined Forest Inventory and Analysis data from plots measured in the 1990s and within the last five years and found the increase in tallowtree to be dramatic across the three states," said Sonja Oswalt, a research forester with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program based in Knoxville, TN. "For example, between 1991 and 2005, the number of tallowtree plants in Louisiana increased by more than 500 percent."

From 1994 to 2006, the number of tallowtree plants increased by 445 percent in Mississippi. In east Texas, the number increased by 174 percent between 1992 and 2007. The total number for Chinese tallowtree in Louisiana grew from a maximum of 46 million stems (plants that were one inch or greater in diameter) in 1991 to a maximum of 280 million in 2005. In Mississippi, the number grew from a maximum of 9 million in 1994 to a maximum of 49 million in 2006. In east Texas, the number of individual tallowtree plants grew from a maximum of 102 million to 279 million.

EDIT

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100608135038.htm

[Xipe Totec]

1. It's too bad, since the Chinese Tallow is about the only Fall color you see down there nt

[Warpy]

2. Got goats?

Out west, the salt cedar is the biggest enemy, an invasive high water user that has infested the banks of the Rio Grande, more a muddy creek this time of year than a river. They're prolific breeders and have spread all along the river, with increasing altitude seemingly no barrier.

The local folks found out that goats actually prefer the young salt cedars to the more native things like cottonwoods, and will strip areas of them very efficiently.

All they need to do is find out what eats the immature trees and turn it loose.

In the meantime, there's a little too much "could" in this article and too little "is."

[MineralMan]

3. Introduced by Ben Franklin...

From Wikipedia:

"The plant is found throughout the southern United States. It was introduced in colonial times by Benjamin Franklin and has become naturalized from South Carolina southward along the Atlantic and the entire Gulf coast, where it grows profusely along ditchbanks and dikes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triadica_sebifera

[Nihil]

4. Should have guessed ... he & his pals were a bunch of troublemakers ...

:P

[txlibdem]

5. Tallow joins Kudzu as one of the dangerous invasive species

We just need to figure out how to turn that frown upside down, turn a negative into a positive by using these fast growing species as fuel sources - biofuels.

Bamboo can be viewed in the same way. If you plant it in your backyard it will take over if you don't contain it with concrete or metal barriers that the roots cannot propagate through (bamboo roots grow a short distance from the mother plant then send up a shoot to the surface that will grow into a new bamboo plant). But its fast growth rate makes it such a great example of a green building material. It can be used for flooring, structural components, furniture, even clothing (yeah, that's right).