Myco-remediation Strategy for Invasive Species Plant Management
CISMA Myco-Remediation
Determining best management practices for stubborn invasive plants is still an ongoing topic for environmental strategists. For many of the infestations that prove difficult to manage conservation organizations and landowners reluctantly end up using chemical treatment. As many of us understand, using herbicides is a double-edged sword. They can help control the aggressive growth of the invasive plant, limiting spread and opening up space for the re-establishment of native plants. However, herbicide use causes collateral damage to non-target species and to the ecosystem as a whole. Below, Russell Miller, nursery manager at Hildene, describes an intriguing new management technique involving mushrooms.We are excited to see the effectiveness of this emerging management technique.
I am researching the concept of using native, locally sourced saprophytic mushroom species (means it obtains food by absorbing dissolved organic material) to help control nonnative invasive plant species. My focus has been on the present fungal allies in our forested and wetland ecosystem. The species I have looked at propagating are commonly found here, for example, Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) and Artist’s Conk (Ganoderma applanatum).
The myco-remediation strategy I have devised includes: delineating the timing, treatment, and area for the proposed action; establishing a yearly protocol and procedure for addressing an area with invasives; and providing an easily interpreted and accessed site for an educational example of treated vs. untreated forests.
The invasive species I chose to innoculate were based on the concentration of them on Hildene’s property. I am primarily concerned with Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) due to it’s virulent qualities. There are plenty of other invasives present: Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), Asiatic bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergia) and Garlic mustard (Allilaria petiolata) to name just a few. I decided to select Common buckthorn as my focus for this project because it is most prevalent and intrusive around high-use areas and has a larger, woody stem. The high-use areas are ideal for public access to these educational treatment sites. The larger, woody stems are ideal because of the size of the inoculum. I plan on using plug spawn that are dowel sized. Thus, a larger stem is required to handle the dowel sized spawn.
This is a multiyear project and the results will be known after a year or better when I can interpret the levels of decomposition for the inoculated stumps. The results of this method will be made in comparison to the levels of invasive species regeneration within mechanically-pulled areas.
I based my strategy on a scientific paper I found by a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin. The study was undertaken in the forests of the upper Midwest, a similar forest composition to here in Vermont. I used this study as a basis for my work. The difference between our two strategies is that they were cultivating edible mushroom species and my efforts concentrated on inedible species. If successful, my strategy may be realigned to include both edible and inedible on-site mushroom varieties. The link is provided below.
I believe that the management of invasive plant species should go beyond our current cultural practices of mechanical removal (mowing and hand-pulling) and chemical control (spraying of herbicides). A third type of control could prove to be more cost-effective, ecologically sound, and sustainable. The strategy I chose involves both hand pulling and inoculating. Using sample plots side by side within the same forest structure provides an insight into the effectiveness of both types of management. I started formulating this idea after recalling the use of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) as a biological control for mosquitos, black flies, fungus gnats and Japanese beetle larvae. It is the most used biological control in the world.
Kaszynski, K.J. Cultivating oyster mushrooms on invasive plants: an alternative substrate. MS in Biology, August 2016, 63pp. (T. Volk)