Fells Invasives – Multiflora rose

National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) is February 26 to March 3, 2024.

To recognize NISAW, we will be releasing a blog post every day this week on a different invasive plant species commonly found throughout the Fells.

Invasive plants are non-native plants that were introduced to our area from another region of the world. The elements that kept the non-native plant populations in check in its home region (e.g. disease, competition, predators) are no longer present once they are introduced to this new region. This means that the plant can grow out of control, rapidly outcompete native plants, and threaten native biodiversity. This threat to our native habitats and biodiversity makes management of invasives all the more important.

Read on to learn more about today’s invasive plant: Multiflora rose.

Photo by Famartin.

Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)

As the name suggests, multiflora rose is a thorny shrub belonging to the rose family. In the spring, it boasts beautiful fragrant flowers and red berries called “hips,” which develop in the late summer and are eaten and dispersed by birds.

Multiflora rose was introduced from Japan in 1866 due to its ability to act as rootstalk for ornamental roses. It would continue to be used for this function for over 100 years before its negative impacts on native landscapes were brought to light. The plant was also used for erosion control, a living fence to corral livestock, and as a crash barrier on highways. The United States Soil Conservation Service, the organization that would eventually become the Natural Resources Conservation Service, promoted these uses from 1930 to 1960.
Photo by Krzysztof Ziarnek.

In addition to its seeds being spread by birds, multiflora rose can also spread through layering, a process that allows the plant to resprout from the tips of stems that take root in the ground. It’s very important to remove the entire plant in order to prevent from this resprouting from occurring.

Multiflora rose can survive in a variety of habitats and conditions such as roadsides, open woodlands, powerline corridors, and full sun or shade. This gives the multiflora rose the opportunity to form dense thickets which prevent native plants from growing (and anyone from coming near!).

Check in tomorrow to learn about another invasive shrub: Glossy buckthorn.

Want to help us combat invasive plants like multiflora rose? Join us for a volunteer day by signing up on our calendar here!

National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) is February 26 to March 3, 2024.

To recognize NISAW, we will be releasing a blog post every day this week on a different invasive plant species commonly found throughout the Fells.

Invasive plants are non-native plants that were introduced to our area from another region of the world. The elements that kept the non-native plant populations in check in its home region (e.g. disease, competition, predators) are no longer present once they are introduced to this new region. This means that the plant can grow out of control, rapidly outcompete native plants, and threaten native biodiversity. This threat to our native habitats and biodiversity makes management of invasives all the more important.

Read on to learn more about today’s invasive plant: Asiatic bittersweet.

Photo by JW Shultz.

Asiatic bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)

Similar to burning bush’s brilliant red leaves, Asiatic bittersweet hosts impressive features that stand out in the fall. Bittersweet’s fruits ripen in the fall and turn yellow. They later split open to reveal a classic red inside.

The woody vine was brought to the United States in the mid-1800s as a landscaping and ornamental plant. The vines and the berries that it produced were used as decorations like door wreaths to add festive autumn colors to people’s homes. But the decorative berries are where some of the problem lies.

When the wreaths were no longer wanted, they were disposed of and the beautiful berries were spread. Birds could eat the berries right off the vine and spread the seeds far and wide. Mammals will not eat any other part of the plant, outside of birds eating the plant’s berries. In its native habitat, animals would eat more parts of the bittersweet plants, which would help keep its populations in check.

Photo by Ashley McCoy.

As a vine, Asiatic bittersweet wants to climb up other plants for support. This often causes damage to the plant it finds itself ascending. One advantage that many invasive plant species have is that they leaf out sooner than native plants. For bittersweet, this means blocking sunlight from the tree or shrub that it has climbed. In addition to negatively impacting the canopy, bittersweet can also strangle the plants that it uses as support. Some bittersweet vines can grow up to 10 inches in diameter and become a heavy weight on the tree they are climbing.

Join us tomorrow to learn more about our next invasive plant: Multiflora rose.

Want to help us combat invasive plants like bittersweet? Join us for a volunteer day by signing up on our calendar here!

National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) is February 26 to March 3, 2024.

To recognize NISAW, we will be releasing a blog post every day this week on a different invasive plant species commonly found throughout the Fells.

Invasive plants are non-native plants that were introduced to our area from another region of the world. The elements that kept the non-native plant populations in check in its home region (e.g. disease, competition, predators) are no longer present once they are introduced to this new region. This means that the plant can grow out of control, rapidly outcompete native plants, and threaten native biodiversity. This threat to our native habitats and biodiversity makes management of invasives all the more important.

Read on to learn more about our first invasive plant of the week: Burning bush.

Photo by F.D. Richards.

Burning bush (Euonymus alatus)

It can be hard to see why certain plants were brought over to North America, but burning bush isn’t one of those mysteries. Introduced in the mid-1860s, the woody shrub’s leaves turn a beautiful bright red in the fall, making it an attractive landscaping plant.

Along with its bright red leaves, burning bush has unique corky wings on its stems, which is where its other common name “winged euonymus” comes from. These wings make it easier to identify during the winter months after its leaves have dropped. The shrub also produces red berries that ripen in the fall and can remain on the stem throughout the winter.

Invasive plants are often found in disturbed areas, and burning bush is no exception. In addition to disturbed areas, burning bush does well in open woods and is shade tolerant. It can leaf out under a mature canopy while simultaneously blocking sunlight from reaching plants on the forest floor, and its ability to form dense thickets and crowd out native shrubs and seedlings makes it even more of a danger to our native plants.
Photo by Mykola Swarnyk.

Like other invasive plant species, burning bush has no natural predators or browsers to keep its population in check. The only part of the plant that an animal will eat are the seeds, which is its main vessel for spreading. Birds tend to eat the seeds and then disperse them far away from the original plant.

Join us tomorrow to learn more about our next invasive plant: Asiatic bittersweet.

Want to help us combat invasive plants like burning bush? Join us for a volunteer day by signing up on our calendar here!

It’s Black History Month! Learn more about some of the Black men and women who play pivotal roles in the conservation and environmental justice movements and continue to shape and guide the field.

Photo by Trust for Public Land

Rue Mapp founded Outdoor Afro in 2009 in Oakland, California. The nonprofit creates spaces for Black people to reconnect with nature, conservation, and outdoor activities like hiking, biking, fishing, and more. Today, the national nonprofit provides a variety of outdoor programming across the country through their volunteer leadership program. The organization also creates awareness campaigns around Juneteenth, Black History Month, and more. Outdoor Afro’s 2024 Black History Month Campaign focuses on scientist and inventor George Washington Carver. 
Photo from Tuskegee University Archives/Museum

George Washington Carver created hundreds of products using sweet potatoes, peanut butter, and soybeans. He was the first Black person to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree at Iowa State and was known for his innovative regenerative agriculture techniques and inventions. His studies of soil chemistry brought to light the need for crop rotation and the planting of nitrogen-fixing plants, such as peanuts, to replenish the soil. Known as “The Peanut Man”, Carver developed over 300 types of products from peanuts with a wide variety of applications.
Photo by Dave Brenner

Like Carver, Dr. Robert Bullard studied at Iowa State University. Dr. Bullard is known as the father of environmental justice. In 1979, he was the first person to study environmental racism using quantitative data in relation to the case Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management Inc. Since then, Dr. Bullard has written 18 books on this topic and has received many awards such as the John Muir Award, the 2020 Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award, and more. Today, Dr. Bullard is a distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University. Learn more about Dr. Bullard and his work here. 
Source: People for Community Recovery Archives, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature

Known as the mother of the environmental justice movement, Hazel Johnson began her work just a few years before Dr. Bullard in Chicago. After discovering how the landfill of her home community was negatively affecting the health of her neighbors, Johnson founded the People for Community Recovery. She was instrumental in getting President Clinton to sign the Environmental Justice Executive Order in 1994.
Photo by Angela Rzeszut

On a more local level, writer, activist, and hiker, Mardi Fuller, is the first Black person to have summited all 48 of New Hampshire’s highest peaks in the winter. Today, she is a community builder, speaker, and continues to be an avid hiker and backpacker in the Northeast. Follow her here.

There are so many Black folks who have had instrumental roles in our environment. Below are just a few more:

In addition to the organizations mentioned above, be sure to check out these organizations that promote Black connections to nature and the focus on racial justice in the environmental movement:

Follow the work of these organizations and the folks listed above and learn more about Black History Month here!

Photo by Denitsa Kireva

What are SGARs?

Second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) are a type of rodenticide used to control mice and rats. They are significantly more powerful than their predecessor, the first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides. First-generation rodenticides have to be consumed multiple times and persist in an animal’s body for seven days to be lethal. Since the animal can feed from the poisonous bait multiple times before succumbing to the effects, a substantial amount of the pesticide accumulates in their bodies. In contrast, SGARs typically require only one consumption to be lethal. They also last much longer in the environment and animals’ bodies (up to four weeks!) and are more toxic than first-generation rodenticides.

What do they do?

Anticoagulants disrupt the body’s natural blood clotting mechanism by inhibiting the production of Vitamin K. Vitamin K plays a crucial role in blood clotting, and its reduced production leads to fatal hemorrhaging in the affected animals. SGARs remain in the bodies of the animals they kill, which can then be consumed by non-target species like birds of prey, large mammals, and even pets. A recent study has shown that exposure to SGARs can weaken the immune system and make carnivores more susceptible to disease.

Photo by Eric Kilby

What can you do?

Join Earthwise Aware’s (EwA) SGARs Brigade to help report the location of potential and confirmed rodenticide bait devices and document sick or dead animals that are likely victims of SGARs. In this project, you’ll learn to identify devices and recognize the symptoms of a poisoned animal.

Use alternative methods of pest control. Take a look at Mass Division of Fisheries and Wildlife recommendations for proactively preventing issues with rodents. 

If you want to get connected to a Save Wildlife initiative in your community, you can check out Save Arlington Wildlife’s (SAW) Activist Toolkit and reach out to SAW for help.

At the policy level, keep an eye on these bills: 

  • H.804: An Act authorizing the town of Arlington to prohibit use of second generation anti-coagulant rodenticides by commercial pesticide applicators.
  • S.2448: An Act authorizing the City of Newton to prohibit the application of second generation anti-coagulant rodenticides within its borders.
  • S.540: An Act empowering towns and cities to protect residents and the environment from harmful pesticides.

Learn More:

Save Arlington Wildlife

MSPCA on Rodenticides

Earthwise Aware’s SGARs Brigade

Mass Division of Fisheries and Wildlife

Jac Goldstein (she/her) and Leah Nussbaum (they/them) have been leading hikes for the Queer and Trans (QT) Hiking Fell-ows, an LGBTQ+ community hike group in the Fells for the past year. In the fall of 2022, they joined a hike with The Venture Out Project and Friends of the Fells, where the idea of monthly hikes for the LGBTQ+ community in the Fells began.

Currently living in Arlington, Jac was born and went to college in California before moving to Wisconsin to earn her Ph.D. in astronomy. She currently teaches scientific communication to engineers at MIT. Jac enjoys dancing, climbing, gardening, and camping. She also loves any activities where she can relate to other people, land, or communities.

Leah is originally from Framingham and has spent most of their adult life in New York, Philadelphia, and Jerusalem before moving back to Massachusetts for work. Leah is a rabbi and chaplain who works in a long term care hospital with seniors and their families to provide support as they age. Leah helps build community connections among seniors and their families where they may not expect to find a Jewish community otherwise. In addition to hiking, Leah enjoys indoor and outdoor rock climbing and board games.
June 2023 Pride Hike

Before leading hikes for FOF, Jac organized a Queer Climbing Social Madison, WI. She and Leah didn’t have prior hike leadership experience, but they were excited to get to know community members and get out in the Fells. Leah’s favorite part of leading hikes is the opportunity to explore new parts of the park and be outside. “I like seeing new places and new spots, especially in winter,” Leah says, and “getting to know both the regulars and new folks.”

Jac says that she gets excited to see how many people show up [for the hikes] every month. “The group has become more popular over the last year and typically reaches its maximum capacity … each month.”

If you are interested in leading hikes, Jac and Leah have some advice for you. Both Leah and Jac encourage folks to reach out and express their interest. Jac says that “FOF is there to help with event organizing and advertising and … provide logistical support. So if there is an interest, then there is a way [for you] to do it.” When leading hikes, Leah recommends “[setting] expectations for how long [the route is] and [giving] opportunities for breaks, which helps make the hikes more accessible.”

Thank you, Leah and Jac, for leading these amazing hikes for the community!

If you are interested in learning more about leading hikes or getting involved, please visit the QT Hiking Fellows Facebook group. You can also reach out to friends@fells.org or keep an eye on our calendar here.
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