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The Buckthorn Stops Here! Conservation Biology Students Battle an Invasive Plant in the Arboretum.


European BuckthornEquipment used by students to map trees.Students in Conservation Biology, under the direction of Dr. Michael Draney, conducted a laboratory exercise in the Cofrin Arboretum. With the help of Arboretum botanist Gary Fewless, the class designed a project to study an invasive tree species, European Buckthorn.

 

For pictures and more information on European Buckthorn visit our "Photo of the Week" for November 13, 2000.

Over the course of two afternoons, the students mapped several study plots and began long-term observations of Buckthorn plants. They also experimented with several methods of control including applying herbicide, as well as cutting, and pulling up small trees and seedlings. Next year a new group of students in the Conservation Biology course will compare the buckthorn populations before and after this year's treatments, and continue experiments with control methods in order to limit the expansion of this important invasive species.

students  count buckthorn seedlings inside quadrats. Students size up a large tree before they begin cutting it down.
Students count Buckthorn seedlings inside sampling quadrats. Students size up a tree sized Buckthorn before deciding how to cut it down.

 

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Last updated on January 12, 2006