Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Invasibility of major forest types by non-native Chinese tallow in East Texas

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Non-native invasive Chinese tallow trees [Triadica sebifera (L.) Small,formerly Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb.] are rapidly spreading into natural ecosystems such as forests in the southeastern United States. Using the 2001-2010 USDA Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and forest land cover data, we estimated the regional invasibility of major forest types (groups), loblolly/shortleaf pine forests and oak/gum/cypress forests, by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geostatistical tools. We defined the regional invasibility of a forest ecosystem as its susceptibility to the colonization and establishment of Chinese tallow, measured by a function of tallow presence and cover percent. The invasibility of these two major forest types to tallow has been estimated and potential management applications discussed.

Parent Publication

Citation

Fan,Zhaofei. 2015. Invasibility of major forest types by non-native Chinese tallow in East Texas. In Proceedings of the 17th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS 203. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 3 p.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/47557