In my opinion, the current method of planting trees and shrubs in riparian buffers of streams to improve water quality and control the nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay is not working. There is no question that a thick natural forest ecosystem along a stream is the ideal. A forest is made up of thousands of organisms from bacteria and molds to woodland asters to giant willows and oaks. These complex ecosystems have evolved over thousands of years and can not be created just by planting a few trees and shrubs---it will take generations to return these areas to something resembling the pristine past.
Meanwhile there is the normal die-off of plantings, costs of materials such as tree tubes and stakes aa well as the high cost of herbicides and labor to control the variety of invasive plants growing in these landscapes.
In South Londonderry Township in southwestern Lebanon County, PA, where I live, one riparian buffer project is an example of what happens when there is no real follow through with maintenance.In 2004 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation spent $12,000 to plant, stake and tube about 100 trees and shrubs in the Kreider’s Glen Natural Area in Campbelltown. No maintenance was done and in a recent survey only about half of the plants had survived. If 50 trees survived that is $240/tree. In the current economic times this is NOT cost effective. Recently I visited the site and discovered a Silver Maple growing in a tree tube had died---it was about 7 feet tell.
I removed the tube and discovered an active mouse nest inside the tube at the base. The tree had been girdled by the rodents. I decided to remove the other remaining tubes and discovered three more of the trees had rodent nests inside the tubes and had also been chewed.
I have been planting native wildflower and warm season grass meadows for the past ten years. I have assisted landowners plant meadows in York, Wayne, Huntingdon, Cumberland, Lancaster and Lebanon Counties in PA. These have ranged from as small as 300 square feet in a backyard to more than 2 acres. The plant seeds used in these activities were native to Pennsylvania and were collected, cleaned and planted by volunteers using the hand broadcast method. Each meadow was different, but the mixes used included at least 40 to 60 native wildflowers and 6 to 12 native grasses.
My suggestion:
In riparian stream buffer areas where controling erosion and nutrient runoff is the goal, plant native wildflower and warm season grass meadows in conjunction with shrub and tree plantings.
Procedure:
1. Plant a meadow of native wildflowers and grasses on the selected site FIRST. Depending on the plant mix used the plants can get four to eight feet tall and grow quite thick. Most of the plants I work with do not appeal to deer and they produce a multitude of seeds for any rodent interested. Once the meadow has matured in 2 to 3years then go to the next step.
2. Once there is sufficient growth, plant the trees and shrubs right in the meadow. They will not need to be staked, the vegetation will hold them up, There will be little need for herbicides, because the thick native meadow vegetation will smother out most invasive plants. I believe voles and mice will have so much to eat, that an occasional woody plant will not interest them. Deer damage will be less because they are basically lazy and eat what is easy to get and with the trees and shrubs in thick vegetation they will not bother them. If you plant hardy native woody plants, they will soon stand above the meadow plants and eventually through the natural process of succession the site will become a forest.
I am not sure of the costs, but considering you can establish a meadow in one summer and a forest will take a generation, this method of establishing buffers along streams and wetlands makes a lot of sense.
The Ecological Effects:
With a native plant meadow, you have food, cover and general habitat for a whole host of creatures including butterflies, bees, birds and mammals---all of whom are losing habitat as we develop areas for human use. The addition of native trees and shrubs will accelerate the move from farm field or pasture to a natural, diverse ecosystem. Using this method of stream clean up benefits all the living organisms in this intricate ecosystem from the butterflies of Lebanon County to the crabs crawling around in the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay.
WE CAN DO THIS.
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