Summary
Chinese privet invades a forest and grows into thickets that crowd out native plants in streamside forests. Even if the woody shrub can be removed effectively, can a forest return to any semblance of its previous condition Forest Service researchers tested two methods for removing privet. In one set of plots, they used a mechanical mulching machine to grind privet to the ground level, leaving the mulch on the plots. In the other set of plots, crews with chainsaws and machetes felled privet by hand. By 2007, the plots had less than one percent of their surfaces covered by privet compared to over 60 percent on control plots where privet was left untreated. After only two years, there were four to five times more bee species in privet-free plots, three times as many butterfly species on the mulched plots, and nearly seven times as many individuals. This increase in pollinators lasted for 5 years and demonstrates the lasting value of removing privet from forested land.
