Category: Invasive Plants

Keeping Kudzu at Bay

by Scott Horn, SRS Insects, Diseases, and Invasive Plants unit  • 
Accidentally introduced insect shows promise in battle with kudzu In October 2009, Dan Suiter, an entomologist with the University of Georgia (UGA), noticed large numbers of an unidentified insect in and around kudzu fields in northeast Georgia. This turned out to be the first recorded sighting of the bean plataspid  aka “kudzu bug“ (Megacopta cribraria) in…  More 

Want to Hunt Down Invasive Plants in Your Forest? There’s an App for That!

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
SRS Announces New Invasive Plants iPhone App Southern Research Station (SRS) Director Rob Doudrick  recently announced the release of the first version of a new iPhone/iPad app designed to help southern forest land owners and managers identify and manage nonnative invasive plants in the field. This is the first ever iPhone/ipad application developed by the worlds…  More 

Removing Privet Helps Restore Native Bee Populations

by Sarah Farmer, Science Delivery Group  • 
When plants travel the world, they escape the checks and balances of their ancestral ecosystems and can multiply without bounds, competing with native plants for light, nutrients, and water. Do non-native invasive plants also disrupt native bee populations? Jim Hanula, research entomologist with the SRS Insects, Diseases and Invasive Plants unit, explored this question by comparing bee…  More 

Eucalyptus Symposium: February 22-24, Charleston, SC

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Register now:  Symposium on the Assessment and Management of Environmental Issues Related to Eucalyptus Culture in the South Eucalyptus species are among the most widely planted tree species in the world and of increasing interest in the United States for bioenergy. In the South, non-native Eucalyptus species have the potential to produce much more bioenergy…  More 

The Future of Forest Watershed Research

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Featured Research Article:   Vose, J.; Sun, G.; Ford, C.; et al. 2011. Forest ecohydrological research in the 21st century: what are the critical needs? Ecohydrology 4(2):146-158. Ecohydrology involves understanding the interactions among vegetation, soils, and hydrologic processes at multiple scales. The article focuses on threats to the structure and function of forested watersheds—and to…  More