PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #4: Invasions.
Monday, August 6, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall

Assessment of non-native plants on the National Environmental Research Park at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

DRAKE, SARA¹, WELTZIN, JAKE², PARR, PATRICIA³, ^{1 2 3}

ABSTRACT- The National Environmental Research Park at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee is composed of second-growth forest stands characteristic of much of the eastern deciduous forest of the Ridge and Valley Province of Tennessee. Human use of natural ecosystems in this region has facilitated the establishment of at least 167 non-native, invasive plant species on the Research Park. Our objective was to assess the distribution, abundance, impact, and potential for control of the 18 most abundant invasive species on the Research Park. We conducted field surveys of 16 natural areas, and the Research Park as a whole, to acquire qualitative and quantitative data. Data from the survey were used to rank the relative importance of these species using the Alien Plant Ranking System produced by the US Geological Survey. Results indicated that Japanese grass (Microstegium vimineum) is the most widespread invasive plant on the Research Park, and that it is most problematic, in terms of its likely impact on native communities, in 12 of the 16 natural areas surveyed. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and kudzu (Pueraria lobata) were the second and third-most problematic plant species on the Research Park.

KEY WORDS: Microstegium vimineum, Lonicera japonica, Ligustrum sinense, invasive species