LIISMA is fortunate to be housed at the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, where ecological stewardship is a top priority on the 212-acre property. Lately, projects underway to remove tree of heaven and other invasive shrubs have been in full swing under the direction of Amanda Furcall, Director of Ecological Sustainability.
With funding from a NYSDEC Regenerate New York grant, Amanda’s team has three years to complete reforestation, restoration, and invasive species management over 11.4 acres in three tree stands.
Amanda and her team established monitoring plots to understand the diversity of the tree stands. Taking a scientific approach, they assessed variable area plots for the overstory, and 100th-acre plots for the understory, recording species composition and abundance for each. For the invasive species abundance, they stuck to a simple scale of 0-5, with 5 having the highest invasive plant abundance.
Among the native sassafras, oaks, white pine, pitch pine, and huckleberry lives a dense thicket of invasive trees, shrubs, and vines. Burning bush (Euonymous alatus) and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) covered by bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) and wisteria (Wisteria spp.) thrive under black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), plane maple (Acer platanoides), and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Tree of heaven, the host tree of spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), quickly became a top concern after the discovery of the leafhopper insect on the property in 2022. To not only control these species, but to ultimately restore the area, Amanda’s team had a lot of work ahead of them.
Fortunately, they had the help of some heavy equipment to jumpstart the process. Treatment with a forestry mower can take down invasive trees and shrubs up to 8-inches in diameter. With this method, they were able to relatively clear the space that would otherwise need “a small army of volunteers”. In a short amount of time, much of the invasive thicket was cleared.
Now in a phase of monitoring, the team is already seeing early promising results. A stand of Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum) spreads heartily in a mowed area, the rhizomes underground having been protected from mowing activities. While many invasive plants may resprout, they will be much weaker than before and can be retreated when they are found.
With goals to create a food forest with permaculture, Amanda hopes to embolden the community, including the farmers who work the land nearby, to appreciate their community forest. The Sisters of St. Joseph hold the land in trust for the next generation, and restoration projects like this are sure to be a great investment for the future.
Listen to Amanda’s presentation from our May 26 Partners Meeting.
