PARENT SESSION
Poster Session # 16: Invasive Species.
Wednesday, August 6 Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. SITCC Exhibit Hall B.
Effective dispersal of the invasive perennial vine pale swallow-wort Vincetoxicum rossicum.
Ladd, David*,1, Cappuccino, Naomi1, 1 Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT- Invasive plants pose a threat to local flora in many locations around the world. One such member of the milkweed family is pale swallow-wort Vincetoxicum rossicum (Kleo.) Barb. Introduced to the northeastern United States and southern Ontario, pale swallow-wort has come to dominate various localities forming monocultures in old fields and urban parklands. We investigated the effective dispersal of V. rossicum hypothesizing that smaller seeds would travel greater distances but would be less likely to germinate and survive. In early April of 2002, seeds that had over-wintered on the ground were collected, weighed and planted in an old field. Seeds were individually marked and monitored through the spring, summer and early fall until the first frost and again the following spring. Later in the same year, sticky seed traps were placed in a different old field at various distances from a seed source population of plants. Distances of individual seeds were recorded and masses measured in the laboratory. Seed mass was a predictor of germination and dispersal distance. Combining these two measures allowed us to calculate the effective dispersal of V. rossicum. Future considerations include how best to measure rates of rare long distance dispersal events and their importance to the spread of swallow-worts.
Key words: Vincetoxicum rossicum, germination and dispersal, invasive alien plant, seed mass