River Fellows freshmen started their experiential week (with some partial zoom-ing) on August 3. They were able to be in the field on Tuesday-Thursday of the week. Stay tuned for several blog posts about their experiences. Please enjoy the following student blogs; we invite you to learn alongside us! -Mrs. Couch -----
Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center is a non-profit organization that strives to bring the people of Chattanooga closer to nature and to spread awareness about the importance of growing native species and removing invasive species. Native species are plants that are indigenous to the Chattanooga area. They are the organisms that are specifically meant to grow and thrive here. Invasive species are organisms that are NOT meant to grow and thrive here, and they can be harmful to the native organisms since they have no natural predators here to remove them. One thing that’s important to remember though, is that while many non-native plants are invasive, not all of them are considered a risk and are therefore not a threat to the environment. Reflection Riding works to remove these invasive species and to repopulate our beautiful ecosystems with natural, native plants!
Plants at Reflection Riding:
On Tuesday, all of the River Fellows went to Reflection Riding, and we even had one river fellow join us via zoom. Our tour guide, Byron, was very animated and excited as we asked questions, he even urged us to ask more!
One of the invasive plants we learned about was Chinese Privet, which completely overtook parts of the forest at Reflection Riding and created a mono-culture (a place of land that has been overtaken by one invasive species). Even though the mono-culture looked very healthy and lush, it is actually very bad for the ecosystem. Creek corridors and forests are great for the Privet to grow because birds rest there and poop out the seeds. Each Privet can create up to 15000 seeds, each one having the possibility of becoming a sapling.
We also learned about Oriental Bittersweet, which has in some way affected every inch of their land. The canopy of their leaves is very thick, killing every plant they grow above that needs more sunlight. It can also climb up and ‘strangle’ trees, killing them very quickly.
Because of Oriental Bittersweet and Chinese Privet, something they call ‘management’ is needed, where someone, normally Byron, goes around their land and pulls out invasive species either mechanically (physically) or by using herbicide.
Herbicide, even though it is chemicals, is not that bad for the environment if used in a safe and practiced way. If you cut a tree stump, many times a sapling of that tree will grow in it, and to prevent that from happening, they apply herbicide to the stump. They apply a lot of herbicide, so it will travel down and kill the roots, much more than they would use to spray leaves.
Spraying leaves will leave you with many more ‘casualties’ because it is less focused than one stump. Byron says that the plant he wants to kill must cover 80%-85% of the land he will spray the herbicide on, and if there is even one rare plant- no herbicide! If he cannot use the stump removal method or the spray method, though they are his favorites, he will use the mechanical method and weed them out.
While we were there, Byron also explained to us that all snakes are good for the ecosystem, and while some are poisonous, they are just afraid of us if not more. Snakes never chase you, and if it seems like they are they probably just think that there is better shelter from you behind you. Snakes are very good mathematicians, very good at geometry, and very aware that the fastest way from Point A to Point B is a straight line, and sometimes Point B might be right behind you. “No one has ever been bitten by leaving a snake alone,” Byron says.
Very interesting! Thanks girls.
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