Troy Evans
Friday, October 17, 2008 - 3:30-4:00
Throughout eastern North America, invasive exotic plants are becoming a major management issue, and in central Kentucky amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) is of concern due to its ability to easily invade, and persist in ecosystems. Many public and private land owners, are currently treating and removing amur honeysuckle, and so this project was designed to evaluate the ecological response to such removal efforts. My research took place the Floracliff State Nature Preserve and Raven Run Nature Sanctuary in Fayette County, KY. Thirty treatment plots were established divided between two treatment types, and eleven control plots installed. The two treatments types were current treatment, where only large honeysuckle shrubs were removed, and retreatment, where all honeysuckle shrubs and seedlings were removed. Data were collected to quantify the response to honeysuckle removal from native and invasive herbaceous species, shrubs, and tree seedlings. Also, light availability and herbaceous cover data were collected. The research took place from spring 2006 through August 2007. Data were analyzed separately for both years using ANOVA’s for each variable. For both 2006 and 2007, significant differences (alpha=.05) among plot types were found for the following variables; light availability, tree seedling density, tree seedling diversity, and L. maackii resprouts, seedlings, and shrub densities. Post hoc tukey’s comparisons were run for significant variables, and differences among treatment types examined. These results will be important for better understanding efficacy and management design for invasive species removal.
Keywords: AMUR HONEYSUCKLE, LONICERA MAACKII, ECOLOGICAL RESPONSE