PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #41: Invasive Species Ecology: Woodlands.
Wednesday, August 7. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC
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Tree of Heaven or Hell? The naturalization of Ailanthus altissima in the Wright State woods.
Espenschied, Amanda*,1, Runkle, James1, 1 Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
ABSTRACT- The tree-of-heaven, Ailanthus altissima , is recognized by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as a well-established invasive species in Ohio and by the Nature Conservancy as an exotic weed of importance. Our study aims to determine whether or not Ailanthus is successfully invading the Wright State University woods near Dayton, Ohio. In particular, we aim to determine the abundance of Ailanthus within the woods, determine its relationship to the wood's edge, and compare its growth patterns in sections of the woods differing in age. In order to determine the abundance of Ailanthus we established 1000 m2 circular plots along transects in 2001. We determined the percent coverage of Ailanthus along the wood's perimeter in separate 25m segments. We determined the relationship of Ailanthus to the wood's edge by establishing four 50x50m macroplots near the edge and measuring all the Ailanthus in 10x10m subplots. Based on 31 1000 m2 plots, Ailanthus had a frequency of 23% and a density of 924 stems/ha. We found no significant relationship between percent coverage of Ailanthus on the wood's edge and aspect or wood's age. The percent coverage of Ailanthus was not significantly related to slope for the older perimeter segments, but these two parameters were positively correlated for the newer segments. For the macroplots we found that the number of Ailanthus stems decreased with increased distance from the edge. Based on a fitted curve, the number of stems decreased from 1.3/m2 at the edge to 0.8/m2 at 10m from the edge to 0.01/m2 at 50m from the edge. The number of Ailanthus stems did not vary with wood's age in the macroplots. We can conclude that Ailanthus dominates most of the wood's edge. Although found mostly near the edge, occasional individuals, possibly root suckers, can be found far from the edge. Although usually at low densities within the interior, occasional high-density patches occur. Ailanthus has become a permanent part of the native woods.
KEY WORDS: Ailanthus altissima , wood's edge, invasive species, Ohio