Hi all, Thought you would be interested in this. Theresa *********************** Dendro-ecological Study on Forest Overstory Productivity in Sites Invaded by Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera mackii) in southwestern Ohio Few studies have examined changes in woody plant productivity resulting from the presence of invasive plants in the forest understory. However, recent work by K.M. Hartman and B.C. McCarthy, published in "Applied Vegetation Science" in 2007 is apparently the first study using dendrochronological techniques to analyze this issue. The researchers studied trees from 12 sites invaded by Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera mackii) and 4 non-invaded sites in southwestern Ohio. The Amur Honeysuckle is a non-indigenous, invasive, understory species that can dominate the forest understory. Changes in radial and basal area tree growth in the ten years prior to L. mackii invasion vs. ten years following invasion were evaluated in addition to other factors. They found that the rate of radial and basal area growth of overstory trees was reduced significantly in eleven out of twelve invaded sites. Non-invaded sites did not exhibit this consistent pattern of reduced growth. For invaded vs. non-invaded sites, the mean basal area growth was reduced by 15.8%, and the overall rate of basal area growth was reduced by 53.1%. Active management will likely be necessary to maintain forest productivity in landscapes impacted by Amur Honeysuckle. The complete study report can be viewed and downloaded here: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/pubs/pdf/Hartman_McCarthy_2007_AVS.pdf __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com