northeast-flora-and-fauna

Another invasive species of plant that thrives in much of my area is Wineberry (aka Japanese Wineberry aka Wine Raspberry), though this particular individual looks to be under attack by Japanese Honeysuckle , an invasive plant known to attack other plants . (My guess is that this won't end well for the Wineberry; Japanese Honeysuckle can kill hardier plants like young trees by squeezing them to death.) Wineberry is a type of raspberry related to blackberries and in the rose family  [1]. It was apparently brought here from Asia in hopes of creating hybrid raspberries for cultivation, but the tricky rapscallions gave their cultivators the slip and went wild, and now feral swaths of Wineberry can be found in many locations. (I'm thinking of 1 spot in particular at Washington Valley Park, not far from its Hawk Watch platform.) It's pretty easy to identify Wineberry. The red stems with sharp hairs and the way the underside of the leaves are much paler than the topside of the ...

This is my most wintry Gray Catbird photo. One of our squawkiest birds much of the year, I rarely see or hear them in the winter despite them being described as winter residents of NJ . (Of course, migration "rules" are a lot looser than we typically portray them, and it's possible that relatively few choose to winter here.) This bird may have been eyeing those berries for its next meal. The berries and thorns make me think the berries were on a Multiflora Rose , though nearby leaves suggest the thicket contained Japanese Honeysuckle too. I've been told that berries from invasive plants tend to be less nutritious for our native animals [1], but I have to admit that the birds are probably grateful for any plentiful berries it can find in the winter. I suspect that getting enough calories is the most important thing for winter bird survival. December 13, 2022 at Washington Valley Park Photo 251087037, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] More precisely,...

Here's another invasive plant species, the Japanese Honeysuckle . And it's engaged in invasive-on-invasive violence, beginning its classic climb-and-strangle strategy on yesterday's invasive plant, the Japanese Angelica Tree . My impression is that all those prickles on the Japanese Angelica Tree won't save it; the Japanese Honeysuckle will presumably maneuver between them as it climbs. I'm not sure what happens to mature trees when Japanese Honeysuckle moves in. I'm sure they'll climb the trees and that it's foliage will compete with the tree's foliage for sunlight. I know that Japanese Honeysuckle will kill young trees as they wind themselves tightly around the trunk, so I suspect it'll also damage newer tree branches even if thick bark protects the main trunk from the Japanese Honeysuckle. If there's nothing to climb, Japanese Honeysuckle will form thick clusters that catch almost all the sunlight, making it very difficult for any other pl...

With iNaturalist down - they say "iNat will be back on its feet/wings/fins/tentacles/pseudopodia as soon as possible" - I'll dip into one of my other pictures for today's topic. Like many places, Duke Farms has invasive plants that they'd prefer to replace with native ones. One of my volunteer assignments - Trail Steward - is involved in cutting back some of these plants. Though plants like Japanese Honeysuckle , Japanese Barberry , Burning Bush , and Wineberry get a fair amount of attention, Multiflora Rose is frequently our main target. Although sometimes we've replanted other stuff after removing the invasive ones, many times we just cut the invasives down and hope it gives other species the opportunity to replace the invasive ones. Below is a picture of some of the invasives back in July. My impression is that these get hauled to a part of the property closed to the public, and after getting good and dried out they mulch it up. The mulch is then used to ...