Cover it up! Using plants to control buckthorn

Project information

Research project title: Cover it Up! Using plant to control buckthorn
Taxa: Plant
Species: Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)
Project status: Completed in 2019
Funding: $327,000

Background

Buckthorn is an invasive shrub that outcompetes native plants and degrades Minnesota forests. Minnesotans spend millions each year removing buckthorn from their properties, yet owners find the invasive shrub returning to the same spots again and again. Removal of buckthorn is a common management activity, but often only provides short-lived benefits since buckthorn rapidly re-establishes.

In grasslands, heavily seeding native species can often restore native communities and inhibit invasion, but this approach is rarely used in forest management (Schuster et al. 2018). This research team investigated whether they could similarly establish enough native plants to prevent buckthorn from re-establishing in forests.

Research questions

• What native planting techniques can reduce the recurrence of buckthorn after removal?
• How much shade is needed to prevent buckthorn from thriving

Practical implications

This work could change the way we think about buckthorn management, helping Minnesota land managers save significant time and money in their long-term restoration efforts.

Project information

Research project title: Cover it Up! Phase 2
Taxa: Plant
Species: Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)
Project status: In progress
Funding: $560,000

Background

Minnesotans spend millions each year removing common buckthorn, yet the invasive shrub often returns to the same spots again and again. This vicious cycle happens because buckthorn is better at filling empty spaces in an ecosystem than most other native plants.

The first phase of this work, led by MITPPC-funded ecologist Peter Reich, developed strategies to improve and diversify the native plant community while keeping buckthorn away for good. The team established that dense revegetation through native shrubs can reduce buckthorn recolonization by blocking at least 96% of incoming light. 

For phase 2, Reich’s team will expand their study from the Twin Cities metro into Greater Minnesota and explore how managers throughout the state can suppress buckthorn for the longest time and at the lowest cost. A network of citizen scientists will help carry out experiments in woodland areas across Minnesota. 

If effective, the revegetation treatments designed and tested here would serve as a template for managers throughout Minnesota, potentially resulting in significant cost and labor savings and improving the health of woodlands by excluding invaders, reducing herbicide applications, and increasing forest understory plant diversity.

Research questions

• What native planting and seeding techniques can reduce the recurrence of buckthorn after removal? 
• How effective are revegetation methods in environments across Minnesota?

Practical implications

This work has the potential to alter how we think of buckthorn management and help land managers save time and money. If successful, it promises to improve the health of Minnesota forests by reducing herbicide applications and increasing understory plant diversity.