A Management Guide for Invasive Plants in Southern Forests James ...

Recently escaped plants can remain at low levels of scattered occurrence known as the “lag phase” but then comeinto an era of rapid increasing spread. Invasive traits can be enhanced through hybridization with native or nonnativeplants of the same genus. There are nonnative plants at everystage of invasion in the Southeast, while across the region noneare yet at the “maximum occupation” phase. Many currently “naturalized”plants in the early lag phase will likely become invasivedue to selective adaptation and hybridization as well as increaseddisturbed habitat for establishment.The objective of this book is to provide useful information on currentmanagement strategies and procedures for 56 recognized plantsthat have invaded forests, natural areas, pastures, rights-of-way,orchards, grasslands, and wetlands of the Eastern United States.This book also covers the principles of invasion and how we canorganize, plan, and enact prevention and management programs.General Principles for Managing NonnativeInvasive PlantsLandCoverandOccupationAll invasive plantsare at some pointon this graph of timeand occupationamount.RapidSpreadPhaseLag PhaseTimeMaximumOccupationAdaptive Management Cycle for an areaTreatAdaptive Management CycleArea Treatment for Invasive PlantsSurvey InputInputStakeholdersStakeholdersRestoreMonitor PlanInputStakeholdersSuccessRetreatRestoreEnvironmentalanalysisThree overarching concepts provide powerful ways to get organizedand counter invasive plant takeovers: adaptation, collaboration,and restoration.• Adaptation, or adaptive resource management, generally refersto a community shared process of self-conscious learning bydoing. The process involves goal setting, gaining experience andresearch findings, and monitoring actions and outcomes withrapid incorporation of new knowledge into refined goals andactions. It is a corporate cyclical process of learning, adapting,and managing. It is a process of optimal decisionmaking in theface of uncertainty, with an aim of reducing uncertainty overtime by monitoring results of actions and careful adjustmentsto improve outcomes. We do not have all the solutions for fightingthe invasion of nonnative plant species, but, by pooling our information resources, we can learn together howto improve our approaches and treatments. We must make full use of print and Web resources, and we can becomeeven more effective by paying attention to new and forthcoming information (see “Resource Information”on page 103).• Collaboration with adjacent and area landowners is essential because invasive plant infestations most often occuracross ownership and political boundaries. For greatest effectiveness, we must develop and use communicationnetworks to link local, county, State, and regional programs.• Restoration of infested lands to healthy and productive ecosystemsmust be our guiding objective. We only can be successful with eradication,control, and containment of invasive plants through the establishmentof desirable and useful plants that protect soil, produce neededresources and habitats, and safeguard our lands from a resurgence ofinvasive plants. We must identify, establish, and culture resistant andresilient plant communities on rehabilitated and restored lands, andthen we must monitor these communities for the first possible signsof returning invasive plants. Restoration approaches for most invasiveplants are just being developed and will require adaptive managementcycles to perfect.Cooperative planning is critical.Inventory3