Removing the Invasive Tree Ailanthus altissima and Restoring Natural Cover

By P. Burch, S. Zedaker. Arboriculture & urban forestry, 2003

95 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Eight herbicide treatments were applied by low-volume basal applications and compared to hand cutting for the removal of Ailanthus altissima. Manual cutting of Ailanthus stimulated resprouting and increased overall stand density. Chemical control not only removed existing trees but also prevented resprouting. When evaluated 2 years after treatment, optimal control of Ailanthus was achieved with a combination of Garlon 4 and Tordon K herbicides. Garlon 4 at 20% v/v alone, Garlon 4 combined with Stalker, or Stalker herbicide alone controlled Ailanthus better than hand cutting but were not as effective as treatments containing picloram. Removal of Ailanthus resulted in a shift in herbaceous species to native species of the region without reseeding with naturally occurring herbs. Manual control of Ailanthus should be avoided in order to prevent proliferation. Herbicide control of Ailanthus is the preferred method of control because it successfully kills the trees and prevents resprouting. Because major Ailanthus infestations occur near roadways, access with a backpack sprayer should be achievable.

Subfields: Molecular Biology, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0ed7aa821cfbc50529742fdb1d7442852f15f843

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Molecular Biology

1. I. Kowarik
2. M. Vilà

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. I. Säumel
2. M. Vilà
3. J. Andreu
4. Christian Ammer
5. Jianqing Ding
6. I. Kowarik
7. Petr Pyšek
8. D. Richardson

Citations in the corpus

• Biological flora of Central Europe: Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle (2007, background): “In southwestern Virginia, 30% of the mileage along the interstate highways was colonized by Ailanthus (Burch and Zedaker, 2003).”
• Risk analysis of potential invasive plants in Spain (2010, background): “Finally, only the WRA scheme mentions plant persistence attributes such as persistent seed bank or high resprout capacity, which can be an indirect indicator of the management effort required ( Burch & Zedaker 2003; Hiebert & Stubbendieck 1993).”
• Assessing potential biological control of the invasive plant, tree-of-heaven, Ailanthus altissima (2006, methodology): “The combination of Garlon 4 and Tordon K herbicides was more efficacious when applied together than applied alone (Burch & Zedaker 2003).”
• Traditional coppice forest management drives the invasion of Ailanthus altissima and Robinia pseudoacacia into deciduous forests (2013, background): “…been shown that mechanical control measures, which are often applied to repress invasive tree species, actually stimulate vegetative regeneration (Burch and Zedaker, 2003; Böcker and Dirk, 2008), the frequent clear-cuts in coppice forest likely enhance the vegetative regeneration of A. altissima…”
• Biological control of invasive plants through collaboration between China and the United States of America: a perspective (2006, unknown): “Swingle (Burch and Zedaker 2003).”