Today
the Ecological Restoration class continued its work in the St. John’s
educational wetland in the form of invasive species removal; namely high bush
honeysuckle, and poison hemlock. High bush honeysuckle is a highly invasive
species from Asia that can have allelopathic qualities on the soil. It has been known to
smother the understory and any young trees in mature forests, so that after the
older trees die, only the honeysuckle remains, effectively choking the forest. High
bush honeysuckle is not a common wetland invasive, but it does like well
drained hillsides, such as the piece of land between a river or creek and the
ecosystems beyond, known as the riparian buffer. Our goal for the day was to
clear the riparian buffer of invasive species.
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Karen Reynolds removing
bush honeysuckle. |
Mason Howell, our fearless leader
used a chainsaw to cut down the honeysuckle and any other invasives, and Dr. Richard
Olson himself applied Glyphosate (round up is the brand name) herbicide to the
severed honeysuckle stumps to try and keep them from re-sprouting. The rest of us hauled the honeysuckle out from the
trees and piled the branches to be burned later. While the area we worked on
was not huge, the quantity of honeysuckle that we removed was remarkable. Mason
Howell said that cutting the honey suckle off is just the beginning. A foliar
spray will need to be applied later in the year to ensure that any stump sprouts
that come up are killed, and to ensure that the grass is not harmed.
I know our class has really enjoyed working with Mr. Howell. Wetlands are an important ecosystem that have been largely drained to use as farmland. However, wetlands provide important habitat for many species, and the act as a filter for ground water. The St. John's wetland is primarily for education services, so it is more of a demonstration than a large-scale restoration effort. However, many generations of young children will be able to study this vital Kentucky ecosystem, and teach environmental stewardship for years to come.
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| Woodland edge before. |
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| Woodland edge after. |
Wow, that is incredible! How wonderful to be able to see how you are making an impact already! We at St. John's are so grateful to you for all your hard work on behalf of the wetlands and of Earth. It was a pleasure to meet you and I regret that I couldn't spend more time with you. But you will be long remembered by us at St. John's and Georgetown College.
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