MILFORD, Ohio — From Super-blooms in Southern California to Poppies in Ohio, spring is beautiful. But thousands of plants in the U.S. are invasive species, disrupting delicate ecosystems. Now, researchers in the Tri-State are trying to restore the balance.
Drifting, just above the forest floor at the Cincinnati Nature Center in Milford, dozens of delicate green nets dot the landscape.
“Each of the green nets represents a research plot for us,” said Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences at Northern Kentucky University Dr. Denice Robertson. “It's definitely out of whack. And so what we're trying to figure out is how to start putting things back so that we can recreate that normal natural habitat again."
For Ohio, a “natural habitat” includes native species like Celandine Poppy and Jacob’s Ladder.
“[Jacob’s Ladder] has a pale blue flower. Those are great,” Robertson said.
But those flowers don’t thrive here anymore - because an invasive species is quite literally throwing shade, blocking the sun and keeping them from growing.
“Honeysuckle is something that was introduced from Asia and was thought to be a great plant for the landscape. It has blooms that smell nice. It can be used as a nice hedge. But unfortunately, it really impacts our native plants in a really negative way," Robertson said.
Even if the honeysuckle is cleared away, the wildflowers don’t come back on their own. So, this study is comparing different planting techniques to see which re-introduction method brings them back the best.
The battle between native plants and invasive species is wide-spread. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), “An estimated 5,000 nonnative plant species have been introduced and established and now exist in U.S. ecosystems.”
Billions of dollars are spent every year to combat invasive plants and control their impacts on plants, animals and pollinators.
“If we want to keep those populations of butterflies and moths around, then we need to make sure we're planting the correct plants in our garden,” Robertson said.
Dr. Robertson added that it could take years to see results, weeding out the bad and restoring the woods. Even so, every big idea starts as a single seed.
The study is funded by a grant from Greenacres Foundation and will run for about three years. The results will help inform the nature center, land managers and the public on best practices. The nets will eventually go away, once the plants are reestablished.
The nets are checked often for any wildlife.
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