ENTS: There is no doubt that the spread of certain invasive species is accelerated by white tail deer. In the Appalachians Microstegium vimineum, Japanese stiltgrass is changing the condition of the "natural" hardwood forest faster than researchers can keep up with the evolving idea of what a "natural" forest or "natural" regeneration is likely to be defined as in the future. Invasive plants are showing up in tracts of woodland where nothing more than a stream passing through the property is a part of the disturbance regime. In so many forested situations I have encountered, the invasive species are not filling in a vacant niche...they are replacing a dynamic and diverse forest understory comprised of hundreds of native plant species per acre with a green desert that consists of a dozen or less of the most persistent native plants fighting for space against the overwhelming assault of non resident alien invaders that are capable of altering their adopted environment to suit their needs while producing prodigious amounts of seed that enjoy extremely high germination rates in the absence of fertility depleting microorganisms that keep resident plan populations in balance. Again, the changes being wrought on our forests by climate change and nonnative plants, insects and diseases is validating the ENTS historical mission of documenting what a "natural" forest is by today's definition. Russ **************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. The NEW AOL.com.(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000019)
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