Invasive tallowtree spreading rapidly across Gulf coast
ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2010) — A study by a USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station scientist shows the numbers of nonnative Chinese tallowtree in Louisiana, Mississippi and east Texas grew by about 370 percent over a 16-year period. The spread of the invasive plant may create problems for plants and wildlife along the Gulf coast.
Tallowtree is a deciduous plant with heart-shaped leaves that grows to 60 feet in height. It invades stream banks, riverbanks, and wet areas like ditches as well as upland sites. Large seeds containing oil are spread by numerous large bird species. The tree is native to China and was introduced to South Carolina in the 1700s. There are approximately 457,000 acres of tallowtree in nine of the 13 southern states. Experts say tallowtree can change the chemical properties of soil and alter the composition and structure of native plant communities. Additionally, litter from the plant may alter habitat in invaded wetland areas, which could affect some frog and other amphibian species. “I examined Forest Inventory and Analysis data from plots measured in the 1990s and within the last five years and found the increase in tallowtree to be dramatic across the three states,” said Sonja Oswalt, a research forester with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program based in Knoxville, TN. “For example, between 1991 and 2005, the number of tallowtree plants in Louisiana increased by more than 500 percent.” From 1994 to 2006, the number of tallowtree plants increased by 445 percent in Mississippi. In east Texas, the number increased by 174 percent between 1992 and 2007. … “This is the first report to show how infestations are composed of thousands of small stems per acre that tightly grip lands in a near monoculture, excluding diversity with little potential for wood resource value,” said Miller. “The crisis is worsened by the plant’s rapid occupation of the highly diverse wetland prairies and marshes in east Texas and Louisiana, which are special habitats for many rare plants and animals and often productive native grasslands.” …
