Abstract
Highly disturbed forests are commonplace throughout the eastern United States and their residing composition and structure is reflective of their past land use. Management and restoration efforts are complicated by diverse and abundant nonnative invasive plants, including
Ailanthus altissima.
Verticillium nonalfalfae has been identified as a potential native mycoherbicide option for
Ailanthus. To test the efficacy of
Verticillium on
Ailanthus we designed a study in highly disturbed forests of southern Ohio. At each of five sites, we monitored symptomology, mortality, and rate of spread of stem-inoculated
Verticillium on
Ailanthus in four inoculated plots and compared it to a control plot. We also monitored native plants for
Verticillium symptomology and community responses to
Ailanthus control. Our results suggest that
Verticillium is an effective tool for controlling
Ailanthus with no observed effect on native flora. Further,
Verticillium naturally spreads through stands and mortality is slow enough that other resident nonnative invasive plants do not rapidly increase.
Keywords
Mycoherbicide,
biological control,
tree reproduction,
restoration,
invasive species management
Citation
Pile Knapp, Lauren S; Rebbeck, Joanne; Hutchinson, Todd; Fraser, Jacob; Pinchot, Cornelia C. 2022. Controlling an Invasive Tree with a Native Fungus: Inoculating Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) with Verticillium nonalfalfae in Highly Disturbed Appalachian Forests of Ohio. Journal of Forestry. 120(5): 558-574. https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvac013.
