Patterns and Causes of Resistance to Tree Invasion in Rights‐of‐Way

Abstract

This study was designed to identify the critical life‐history stages and ecological processes responsible for variation in rates of tree invasion in utility rights‐of‐way in the Hudson Valley of New York. We used repeated censuses to estimate natural rates of tree seedling establishment, growth, and survival in the 12 major plant communities found along rights‐of‐way in the region. An individual‐based model was used to integrate our field data and calculate measures of the rate of tree invasion in each plant community. The most common tree invaders were species with large, wind‐dispersed seeds (i.e., Acer rubrum and Fraxinus americana) although these were rarely the most common tree species in the forests bordering the corridors. In narrow (°30‐50 m wide) rights‐of‐way there was little relationship between seedling density and distance to the nearest seed sources; however, in wide corridors, seed dispersal clearly limited tree invasion. Annual variation in seed production in adjacent forests was also a major factor in the high spatial and temporal variability in tree seedling establishment. Growth rates of newly established seedlings did not vary significantly among the different communities; however seedling growth rates increased dramatically once the seedlings emerged above shrub or herb‐dominated canopy. Thus, the duration of competition (i.e., the number of years required by a seedling to emerge above the shrub or herbaceous canopy) appears to have been more important than the initial intensity of competition in determining variation among communities in resistance to tree invasion. As a result, shrub communities generally had high resistance to invasion. Among herbaceous communities, the highest resistance to invasion occurred in communities dominated by the grass Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem) on poor soils.