decorah envirothon - invasive species of iowa
Post on 21-Feb-2017
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Native lady beetles are never a nuisance and hibernate under decayed tree bark out in the woods. They don’t bite or stink.
All ladybird beetle larvae are beneficial. They eat aphids and scale insects and other bugs that cause gardeners headaches.
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Managing Invasive Animals
• Don’t release domestic or non-native animals into the wild
•Stop aquatic hitchhikers
•Don’t transport or purchase non-local firewood
•Stay informed
Musk Thistles have purple flowers that bloom in mid-July. Note the spiny collar at the base of that blossom.
Canada Thistles are the smallest thistle plants around here, but they present the biggest control challenge.
Canada Thistles normally grow about knee high. Unlike other thistles that spread via seed, Canada Thistles primarily spread from their roots.
Wild Parsnip is another big problem plant in Iowa. Growing head high, yellow flower umbels form in late June.
Wild Parsnip plants are abundant in area ditches and old fields, and can hurt people a lot worse than thistles.
If your skin touches a Wild Parsnip plant when the sun’s shining, you’re almost certain to get a chemical burn.
White Sweet Clover has white flowers and is common in road ditches too. It is one of several invasive legumes in open areas.
Crown Vetch flowers are actually quite attractive and were widely planted as a roadside landscape plant years ago.
Reed Canary Grass is another problem plant in wet areas. This is a tall grass, growing up to seven feet.
Reed Canary Grass spreads by rhizomes and forms very large dense colonies, killing off the competition.
Most wildlife avoids the difficult mats of Reed Canary Grass, but this hungry spider found a home on one plant.
Monocultures, like this Reed Canary Grass stand, are never a good thing in nature as they suppress diversity.
Other Non-native Grasses
Cool Season Pasture Grasses: quack grass, orchard grass, timothy, tall fescue and meadow fescue
Dry land grass:western cheat grass
Wet, acidic soils:Japanese stilt grass
Garlic Mustard was brought to this country as a garden vegetable, but it escaped to take over the woods. Enjoy!
Multiflora Rose was brought to this country on purpose too, planted as a pretty living barbed-wire fence.
Multiflora Rose hips are scarlet red and decorate the plants by late summer.
Hungry songbirds freely spread their seeds.
Japanese Bamboo has distinctive red stems. The plant spreads by underground roots or even detached plant parts.
Stinging Nettle leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals that burn when they penetrate our skin surface
Like a broken record, Honeysuckle was brought here on purpose, planted for it’s pretty fragrant flowers, blooming in May.
By midsummer, red or orange translucent fruits are forming. These berries are too insipid for people, but birds eat them.
This woodland understory is totally overgrown with Honeysuckle, showing up as the green growth in spring.
Honeysuckle can cause problems out in open areas too, taking over fencelines and even fallow grasslands
European Buckthorn leaves often look glossy. They leaf out before native trees in spring and stay green late into fall.
European Buckthorns produce purple berries in autumn. Birds eat them, get sick and expel them into new areas.
More Invasive Species in our Area
Iowa DNR
Minnesota DNR
Wisconsin DNR
A simple girdle, followed by squirting Tordon into the cut, will also kill Buckthorn or other weed trees.
Trees with minimal wildlife value are eliminated from natural areas in autumn and winter by girdling and then treating the wound with Tordon.
A hop hornbeam, or ironwood tree that has been girdled and then treated with Tordon. These common trees shade the forest floor and prevent oak seedlings from getting established.
Hit Honeysuckle or other weeds in the summertime with Crossbow. Spray the vegetation until leaves are wet
Reed Canarygrass can be controlled with Select, which will kill any grass but won’t hurt sedges or forbs (flowers).
Mowing can suppress weeds and keep them from going to seed. This may eventually control biennial species.
Fire may be another non-chemical control agent for weeds, but is better at battling a woody shrub or tree invasion
Hop hornbeam saplings waiting to be killed at Lake Meyer so the forest there can regenerate young oak or sugar maple seedlings in their place.
South-facing slopes at Lake Meyer are dominated by picturesque old oaks and managed as oak savannah, one of the rarest habitats in the whole world, a holdover from prehistoric times.
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