Photo Album

November 9, 2003

Significant efforts are made during restorations to control alien species of plants that can take over an area and crowd out natives. One such invader is bush honeysuckle, an invasive shrub that shades out native wildflowers and takes over the forest understory. Woody brush can significantly slow or stop the regeneration of trees like oaks and hickories. Due to the introduction of alien species and the lack of fire management for the past 100 years, natural areas must be intensely managed by people to remain in their proper balance.

Young oak or hickory trees are found beneath nearly every bush honeysuckle shrub removed.

We have seen this illustrated quite plainly on the Illinois Raptor Center property. Beneath nearly every bush honeysuckle we removed was a seedling oak. Those oaks likely would not survive for long. This alien shrub, originally from Russia, greens up early and holds its leaves well into November. Spring wildflowers in woodlands rely on sun reaching the forest floor before leaves appear on the trees. Bush honeysuckle completely upsets that cycle.

Also, in preparation for burns, we tagged young oak trees with ribbons so our burn crew will be able to identify them when the leaves drop off. Crew members will use a leaf blower to blow leaves away from young oaks so the fire will go around them. Burns will be conducted when weather conditions permit.