Invasive plant

Report Tree-Of-Heaven To Help Monitor For Spotted Lanternfly

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Anne Pearce, Invasive Plants Association of Wisconsin

Spotted lanternfly is on its way to Wisconsin

Tree-of-heaven showing leaves and fruits. Photo: Chuck Bargeron, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive insect that threatens a variety of plant species, mostly woody plants. It has not yet been found in Wisconsin, but it is steadily moving toward us from the eastern United States. Both juvenile (nymphs) and adult spotted lanternfly feed by sucking sap from the stem, branches, twigs and leaves of host plants. This weakens the plant and can contribute to the plant’s death. Because spotted lanternfly impacts a wide variety of agricultural crops (like grapes and hops), nursery crops (like roses), and hardwood trees (like maple, walnut, willow, and poplar), it is a high priority pest in Wisconsin.

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Don’t Dump Your Garden Waste

Posted on by brenna.denamur

By Jaqi Christopher, DNR Forest Invasive Plant Specialist, Rhinelander, Jacquelyn.christopher@wisconsin.gov

When cleaning up your garden this fall, be sure to dispose of yard waste properly. Not only is dumping on public lands illegal, but it is harmful to the environment.

A large pile of pine needles, leaves and branches dumped along the forest edge.

This garden waste was dumped along an ATV trail in a state forest and can be a pathway for invasive plants and diseases that affect our public lands. Photo: Wisconsin DNR

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Attention Hunters: Help Slow The Spread Of Invasive Species!

Posted on by brenna.denamur

By Jaqi Christopher, DNR Forest Invasive Plant Specialist, Rhinelander, Jacquelyn.christopher@wisconsin.gov

With the dropping temperatures and changing leaves, it’s beginning to feel like fall hunting season.

While you travel across the state to check hunting spots or tend to food plots, look for unwanted hitchhikers on your clothing and equipment. Seeds from invasive plants like garlic mustard, tansy and spotted knapweed can travel far distances in the mud on your vehicle, trailer, ATV, shoes and clothing.

Two women on either side of a mud-covered black truck with gear and a black dog in tow prepare for a day of duck hunting.

Inspecting and cleaning vehicles, equipment, gear and pets before and after recreating can help slow the spread of invasive species. Photo credit: Wisconsin DNR

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Giant Hogweed Or Cow Parsnip?

Posted on by brenna.denamur

By Jaqi Christopher, DNR Forest Invasive Plant Specialist, Rhinelander, Jacquelyn.christopher@wisconsin.gov

Giant hogweed is a large invasive species commonly confused with the native look-alike cow parsnip. Although giant hogweed is uncommon in Wisconsin, it’s important to know the difference between the two.

Person standing with giant hogweed towering over them.

Giant hogweed can invade woodlots and get 8-20 feet tall. Photo Credit: Ramona Shackleford

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April Showers Bring May Garlic Mustard

Posted on by brenna.denamur

By Brenna DeNamur, DNR Forest Health Outreach Specialist, Madison, Brenna.DeNamur@wisconsin.gov; Jaqi Christopher, DNR Forest Invasive Plant Specialist, Rhinelander, Jacquelyn.Christopher@wisconsin.gov; & Mary Bartkowiak, DNR Forest Invasive Plant Coordinator, Rhinelander, Mary.Bartkowiak@wisconsin.gov

Spring is here! Invasive plants, like garlic mustard, are often among the first green life to emerge in the new season.

A dense population of garlic mustard carpets a forest floor.

Garlic mustard is an invasive plant that appears early in spring. Photo: Wisconsin DNR

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Understanding The Extent Of Invasive Species And Other Urban Forest Challenges

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist, Madison, daniel.buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

How extensive are buckthorn and other invasive species in our communities? We don’t know yet, but Wisconsin’s Urban Forest Inventory And Analysis (UFIA) project will be able to answer that and many other questions.

Buckthorn beneath dead ash trees at Big Foot Beach State Park. Photo by Bill McNee.

Besides simple stem counts, we can learn about the type of land where buckthorn is found, species under which buckthorn is growing and trends in invasive species expansion or decline over time.

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Upcoming Webinars: EAB University And TREE Fund

Posted on by patricialindquist

The EAB University Spring 2022 Webinars are right around the corner. All webinars are free, and many count towards continuing education programs.

Can’t watch them live? No problem! All webinars are recorded and posted afterward.

Check out the EAB University Spring 2022 webinars and register for them here. All sessions begin at 10 a.m. CST.

  • Feb. 24: The Biology and Management of the Invasive Spotted Lanternfly. Holly Shugart, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Scholar, Pennsylvania State University
  • March 1: Firewood Rules, Certifications, and Recommendations across the USA.
    Leigh Greenwood, Forest Health Program Director, North America Region, The Nature Conservancy 
  • March 3: The Worst Kind of Snowbird: The Invasion of Asian Longhorned Beetle in South Carolina. David Coyle, Assistant Professor and State Extension Specialist, Clemson University 

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Garden Planning – Avoid Invasive Plants

Posted on by brenna.denamur

By Jaqi Christopher, DNR Forest Invasive Plant Specialist, Rhinelander, Jacquelyn.Christopher@wisconsin.gov and Mary Bartkowiak, DNR Forest Invasive Plant Coordinator, Rhinelander, Mary.Bartkowiak@wisconsin.gov

With winter in full swing, many gardeners dream of spring and begin planning what plants to add to their gardens. Now is a great time to brush up on what not to plant to avoid invasive species that might be hiding in plain sight.

Woodlot in fall, most trees have lost their leaves which are covering the ground. Several burning bush shrubs still with their bright red leaves stick out against the brown backdrop.

Burning bush as a forest invasive.
Photo: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org

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Fighting Invasive Plants

Posted on by grace.hershberg

Invasive plants are a major threat to Wisconsin’s forests, highlighted in the forest health chapter of Wisconsin’s Forest Action Plan. Invasive plants limit tree regeneration, reduce plant diversity and increase management costs. Recent Forest Inventory and Analysis data from the USDA Forest Service found that more than half of forest sites surveyed in Wisconsin had two or more invasive plant species. Forest landowners should learn to recognize common invasive plants like buckthorns, honeysuckles and garlic mustard. Mobile applications are a handy tool for landowners to learn to identify the plant species in their woods (e.g., PlantNet, iNaturalist) and report invasives (e.g., EDDMapS). For information about the regulated invasive plants in Wisconsin visit the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Terrestrial Invasive Species page.

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Forest Health In The Statewide Forest Action Plan

Posted on by grace.hershberg

The forest health chapter of Wisconsin’s 2020-2030 Statewide Forest Action Plan, completed in June 2020, highlights the impacts of insects, diseases, invasive plants and worms in Wisconsin’s forests.

Forest health experts from government agencies, universities and tribes worked together to evaluate these current impacts. They then developed goals and strategies to help the forestry community refine how it will invest state, federal and partner resources to address major forest health management and landscape priorities over the next ten years.

Forest health is a critical component of the plan because native and non-native pests increase tree mortality to a level that negatively affects forest stocking levels, clean water, wildlife habitat and raw material for wood products. This causes economic losses and undesirable management outcomes. Continue reading “Forest Health In The Statewide Forest Action Plan” →