When attempting to reduce the impact that invasive species have on native ecosystems it is important to ask questions.  It is important to talk with people who deal with the invasions on a regular basis.  Over the weekend, I interviewed the Executive Director of the Black Rock Forest Consortium, Dr. William S. F. Schuster.  Black Rock Forest (BRF) is located in the Hudson Highlands region near Cornwall, New York.  Although oak dominated, it has begun to be over-run by invasive plants which are slowly transforming the beautiful native ecosystem into an alien monoculture.  The story of Black Rock Forest and its history with invasive plants can be seen below in my interview with Dr. Schuster.

Me: "In terms of Black Rock which invasive plant seems to be most prevalent or causes the most damage to the native ecosystem?"

Dr. Schuster: "Top problematic non-native invasive plants in BRF are Japanese stiltgrass (along trails, roadsides, and open areas), Japanese bamboo (along streams and mesic soil areas), Japanese barberry (former homestead sites and clearcuts) and garlic mustard (mostly where soils are higher quality)...[tree of heaven] is probably the most problematic tree invader because it grows so fast, seeds prolifically, and makes a really poor tree."

Me: "How difficult is it to manage invasives that get into the forest?"

Dr. Schuster: "Management is quite difficult. It can be very expensive and as a land manager you must pick your battles. We try to evaluate for each species 1) how problematic it seems to be and 2) how effective control efforts can be. The only cases we feel we can spend time/money on are the ones where there is a big problem with a high chance of control success. If you catch an invasion in early stages it is much easier to control compared to an established invasive. For example, we are a Mile-a-minute vine "free zone" and we keep an eye out for it and will immediately eradicate any establishing populations."

Me: "What are some of your most common management strategies?"

Dr. Schuster: "A light management hand, emphasizing robust and diverse native forest communities with low disturbance, low public profile with active control of visitor traffic, and a predominantly nutrient-poor ecosystem have been our key attributes and strategies to minimize problems with invasives. For example, the one time in the recent past when we did a logging job we had the logger steam/power wash his equipment beforehand so he did not bring in unwanted plant propagules. Just 10 miles south, Bear Mountain State Park is of similar size and character to BRF, but probably has an order of magnitude greater impact of invasive plant species. That said, we still have a steadily increasing component of invasives in our forest flora."

I have been to BRF, in fact I spent a whole summer there doing research on invasive plants and how they are affecting different components of the native ecosystem there.  I have also been to other forest sites in the region and can say that, although invasives are present in Black Rock, the management strategies of Dr. Schuster and his staff are effective in terms of lessening the severity of the invasive plant problem.  I believe that it is imperative for forest managers, directors, and conservationists to discover what management strategies work and share them with one another and the public as well.  Through communication we can help reduce the negative impact of invasives.