1000% Increase In Vines In 20 Years Drastically Altering SE US Forests - Ohio State Study - AFP

[hatrack]

A new study of bottomland hardwood forests in the southeastern United States suggests that the increased growth of vines may change the landscape of these forests. Researchers charting the growth of vines in two forests in South Carolina found up to a 10-fold increase in the number of vines in just two decades. Vines commonly found in both forests include grapevines, trumpet vine, poison ivy and Virginia creeper. Most of the vines use adhesive roots or tendrils to climb trees.

The patterns observed in the south add to a growing number of studies that found similar patterns in temperate and tropical forests, said Bruce Allen, the study's lead author and a recent doctoral graduate of Ohio State University's School of Environment and Natural Resources.

"Collectively, we're talking about an increase of more than 500 vine stems in 27 acres of forest area that we studied," he said. "And all of the growth is within the last 10 to 20 years. Old photographs from the sites indicate there may have been fewer vines historically.

"There are now so many vines that they're starting to change the makeup of the forest," he continued. "It appears that as the number of vines increase, the density of small trees decreases at a fairly uniform rate." Although the specific reasons for this shift aren't fully understood, Allen and his colleagues say possible mechanisms include increases in carbon dioxide concentrations, which have been shown to increase vine growth more than tree growth.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Increase_In_Creeping_Vines_Signals_Major_Shift_In_Southern_US_Forests_999.html

[CottonBear]

1. Yikes! I live here in the SE USA.

My special area of professional interest is urban forestry and conservation of natural areas.

I'm going to see what research has been done by the UGA Warnell School of Forst Resources on this vine problem.

[blm]

3. The poison ivy has increased significantly in toxicity, as well.

The newsroom has been sitting on the story though it should have been published right after Live Earth when it came out. Another not-so-subtle way the news organizations manage to undermine the efforts of the truthtellers.

[bmbmd]

2. Kudzu-

it's going somewhere...

[frogcycle]

4. not just SE

I live in Illinois. about 1/3 acre of my yard is oak/hickory savannah - trees up to 4 ft diameter. It's part of a stand that has been largely decimated by other property owners clearing their portions, but there is probably about 2 acres total still "old growth". When I moved here the virginia creeper and poison ivy were about thigh-deep throughout. Mine is now clear of all that, as well as all the buckthorn, and the native woodland plants are recovering; some young oaks and hickories are developing. The rest is still a mess. I call the virginia creeper "illinois kudzu." There are vc and pi vines as thick as my arm climbing trees in the area, reaching 60-70 ft up.

[zalinda]

8. Just read up on it.........you need to get goats

Goats will eat the virginia creeper and poison ivy, who knew. They will also eat the grape vines. I would think that you'd have to cover up small trees, so they won't eat them. But you can get movable fencing and just move them around your property. You could make some money moving them around to "clear" the yards.

zalinda

[frogcycle]

9. i'm the goat

me and my chipper/shredder

[kestrel91316]

5. If they are NATIVE vining plants they need to leave them alone!

If they are kudzu, they need to call in the goats.

[zalinda]

6. Goats eat kudzu? n/t

[kestrel91316]

7. They certainly do. They LOVE it, and are used for clearing it:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1021/p01s02-ussc.html