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    Default Unwelcome invaders on Appalachian Trail - The Nature Conservancy


    The Nature Conservancy

    Unwelcome invaders on Appalachian Trail
    The Nature Conservancy, VA - Sep 17, 2008
    SHEFFIELD, MA — September 16, 2008 — The Appalachian Trail is a haven for thousands of hikers annually. However, the Trail is also home to other – unwelcome ...


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    Interesting article. The second sentence can be read as implying that the thousands of hikes are also unwelcome invaders, which is rather funny, and no less true or false depending on the perspective. From natures point of view no species is entirely welcome or unwelcome, native or invasive. Such concepts are human, and time dependant. But such concepts might still be very useful to us, should we ever develop the wisdom to heed them.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JAK View Post
    Interesting article. The second sentence can be read as implying that the thousands of hikes are also unwelcome invaders, which is rather funny, and no less true or false depending on the perspective. From natures point of view no species is entirely welcome or unwelcome, native or invasive. Such concepts are human, and time dependant. But such concepts might still be very useful to us, should we ever develop the wisdom to heed them.
    mus·ing (myzng)
    adj.
    Deep in thought; contemplative.
    n.
    1. Contemplation; meditation.
    2. A product of contemplation; a thought.

    p.s. ... with no guarantee of quality

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    I've seen them miles from roads, no doubt brought there by birds.

    Go here for more information including native plants that are far better alternatives to plant on your own property or for revegetating impacted sites.

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    Registered User weary's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JAK View Post
    Interesting article. The second sentence can be read as implying that the thousands of hikes are also unwelcome invaders, which is rather funny, and no less true or false depending on the perspective. From natures point of view no species is entirely welcome or unwelcome, native or invasive. Such concepts are human, and time dependant. But such concepts might still be very useful to us, should we ever develop the wisdom to heed them.
    Not really. Native plants evolved amidst other native plants and that evolution produced the ability for all to live harmoniously together.

    An import brought in by ship or plane shares none of this natural balance. A few simply die out since they are unable to survive the competition of the natives. But some overwhelm this natural balance and wipe out native plants and the creatures that need native nutrients to survive.

    Thus the purple loosestrife is quickly wiping out native marsh plants and the creatures that need these plants.

    My mother-in-law two decades ago planted oriental bittersweet in the stump of what was Maine's largest elm tree until it was killed by an imported elm disease. She thought being in a stump would keep it from spreading and killing nearby trees. I now spend dozens of hours every year cutting it's stems to keep it from killing the pines, oaks, maples and birches I've been nurturing for 45 years.

    A friend who suddenly decided to move from Maine to Hawaii nearly 40 years ago, gave me a dozen multifloral roses he had just planted. It was a terrible gift. Every wild place on my two acres is now dominated by the plants. I've cut and carried away a dozen trailer loads of the pests with their half inch thorns, but there are more of them every year. I curse my friend weekly these days.

    Weary

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    The Lou Dobbs of the plant world, illegal alien plants taking nutrients from the native weeds.

  7. #7

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    Weary, seems like you need to use a little herbicide. Are you too close to water for using a bit, or does it just run against your grain?
    'All my lies are always wishes" ~Jeff Tweedy~

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    Our native plants seem to make their way to other countries as well and become invasive there. Interesting how things evolve. Share and share alike

    You can pull and cut and zap with chemicals to no avail. Nature wins!!!!

    Now if we were to convince people that Garlic Mustard is as good a medicinal plant as Ginseng we might stand a chance to irradicate it

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by zelph View Post
    Our native plants seem to make their way to other countries as well and become invasive there. Interesting how things evolve. Share and share alike

    You can pull and cut and zap with chemicals to no avail. Nature wins!!!!

    Now if we were to convince people that Garlic Mustard is as good a medicinal plant as Ginseng we might stand a chance to irradicate it
    That would make an interesting documentary. We're always hearing how invasive species adversely affect us; I'd like to hear how our species effects others. It’s always about us.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by zelph View Post
    Our native plants seem to make their way to other countries as well and become invasive there. Interesting how things evolve. Share and share alike
    Quite the opposite of evolving. The variety and possibilities of evolution, created by millenia of slow divergence and specialization, is lost when invasives take over and drive native species to extinction and destroy delicate unique ecosystems. An event which before humans was rare and isolated, but is now frequent and widespread and often involves a wide variety of invasives attacking shrinking ecosystems simultaneously, feeding off each other and taking advantage of human disturbance. There is an increasing homogenization and loss of diversity of the biota and ecosystems as fewer species come to dominate more of the world, and more species and ecosystems are permanently lost. Human carelessness is the root of the problem, but invasive species are the foot soldiers that do the actual damage.

    One Weed to rule them all
    One Weed to outgrow them
    One Weed to shade them all
    And with darkness extinguish them

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    Quote Originally Posted by MOWGLI View Post
    Weary, seems like you need to use a little herbicide. Are you too close to water for using a bit, or does it just run against your grain?
    I've been known to use herbicides. What I don't like about them is the panorama of dead bushes they leave. I try to cut things to the ground before spraying.

    The state of Maine would love to spray my roadside jungle. Not only this years, but every year in late summer, leaving behind groves of dead and dying plants. Aesthetically I find that offensive. So I sign an agreement with the powers of government to control the brush near the road myself.

    Close to the water, there are many state and local regulations dealing with both cutting and herbicides. Herbicides are rarely the answer, though I occasionally paint the stems of stuff I cut to minimize regrowth.

    Weary

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    Quote Originally Posted by weary View Post
    I've been known to use herbicides. What I don't like about them is the panorama of dead bushes they leave. I try to cut things to the ground before spraying.

    The state of Maine would love to spray my roadside jungle. Not only this years, but every year in late summer, leaving behind groves of dead and dying plants. Aesthetically I find that offensive. So I sign an agreement with the powers of government to control the brush near the road myself.

    Close to the water, there are many state and local regulations dealing with both cutting and herbicides. Herbicides are rarely the answer, though I occasionally paint the stems of stuff I cut to minimize regrowth.

    Weary
    Sir,I will gladly send you some of our Kudzu from down here in Georgia
    as it will quickly strangle all of those offensive plants you have;leaving
    you a nice green leafy cover that is just great for the wildlife.
    And you will never experience erosion again!
    Oldfivetango
    Keep on keeping on.

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    Those goat head thorns you find in the west supposedly came from Russia in a shipment of wheat.

    What is up with the program of goats eating the kudzu? I have not heard much about that of late.

    Weary- After I dug up about 70' of multiflora hedge, (cut the root off below grade,) I sprayed. With a one gallon pump up job. Adjusted the spray head with plain water first. X number of months later I had a carpet of small plants. Sprayed again. Took care of it, but it looked like hell until the next spring, and didn't look right until the next year.

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    I thought it was going to be about the Nature Conservancy being unwanted invaders. They are are in Texas.

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    Quote Originally Posted by skinewmexico View Post
    I thought it was going to be about the Nature Conservancy being unwanted invaders. They are are in Texas.
    I know. Texans are strange like that. The Nature Conservancy has protected a million acres in Maine, including 30 miles or so of the ATcorridor, and about 3,000 acres in my town. I can't think of anything not to like about TNC
    invasion.

    Our Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust are hoping the Nature Conservancy will help us with our effort to keep further development away from the High Peaks south of the Bigelow Preserve. By the way, our internet site has been upgraded. Let me know what you think

    Weary www.matlt.org

  16. #16

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    On this trail. Hikers are welcome.

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