Attacking the Invaders!

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ANDREW BOOSE
Aquatic Ecologist

Resource Management volunteers cut an invasive European alder in the prairie area opposite Schrock Lake in Sharon Woods, and other Resource Management volunteers cut and chemically treat an invasive Japanese honeysuckle near Walnut Creek in the Buckeye Area at Walnut Woods. Photos Carrie Morrow

Invasive management has been the primary focus of Metro Parks Resource Management’s recent activities. Resource Management volunteers have been working away removing invasive plants at some hot spot areas at Pearl King, Sharon Woods, 100 Acre Wood, Scioto Grove, Walnut Woods and Glacier Ridge. Their hard work is showing great improvement in areas that were inundated with invasive plants. The Walnut Woods event put a huge dent into a thick stand of callery pear, one of the worst invasive plant species in the parks.

Hemlocks are getting their HWA (hemlock wooly adelgid) injections, and none have fainted yet. We are hoping the December cold snap slowed the HWA feeding damage for at least this winter. Prairies and grasslands are receiving their annual haircuts by park and Resource Management staff.

A new project for Resource Management will see us working on a photographic prairie seed guide. The guide will have photos of the seed, the flower and the seed head at the time of harvest.

One thought on “Attacking the Invaders!”

  1. Chestnut Ridge is polluted with Bush Honeysuckle and should be a hotspot for invasive removal

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