Colonization by invasive plant species into urban and successional forest remnants in the Bluegrass Region of central Kentucky

Project purpose and objectives: We propose to examine the plant species and community response to honeysuckle removal across a suite of sites in Fayette County, Kentucky. Because forest remnants in the central Kentucky region appear to be especially susceptible to invasion by Amur honeysuckle, most (if not all) of the entities involved in managing these sites are targeting honeysuckle removal as a key to restoration. We propose to exam ine the suite of potential site factors that intluence plant response, including light availability (strongly intluenced by the nature of the forest or edge setting), soil factors (including pH and nutrient availability) and land use history. (We are planning this as a 2-year study, and in the second year we hope to conduct soil seed bank studies to determine the suite of species that are present in different soils.) We will select study sites from a pool of available sites. Sites will be selected on the basis of access, availability of paired removal and non-removal areas on similar soils, and availability of paired methods of honeysuckle removal (injection vs. cut and herbicide). We will survey species several times throughout the growing season in each of our selected sites to capture the full suite of summer. spring and fall ephemerals. as well as tree seedlings. While it would be preferable to conduct this research across a broader region. and particularly to include sites in and around Louisville, the field-intensive nature of documenting plant species response throughout the growing season is time-prohibitive.