Crow’s Nest: Volunteers care for successional area

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

A great crew showed up Sunday to cut vines and multiflora rose in an old field that is now well underway on the process of succession from field to forest. We’ve cut vines here a couple times in the three decades since it was a hayfield. We never planted trees in this field, since it is small and surrounded by native forest—a good source of seed of native trees that would naturally fill this gap, if not for invasive vines and multiflora rose.

Although the work looked daunting, the large number of dedicated volunteers made short work of the invasive plants in the area. Cutting back the invasive plants will “release” the trees and allow them to grow large enough to cast shade and get us well on the way to closing the gap and creating the shady conditions that will favor forest growth. I am continually grateful for the contributions of our volunteers and thoroughly enjoyed their company on this beautiful day.