By: John OrtizTae-Han Yeo

Purpose

Increase biodiversity of campus To give information to future

campus restoration groups involved in blackberry removal so projects progress from a good starting point

What are Invasive Species? Invasive species

Non-native plant, animal, microorganisms that take over the habitat of native species

Introduced either accidentally or intentionally Invasive always considered pests or harmful to ecosystem

Tend to be Highly competitive Highly adaptive High successful at breeding

Lack of natural predators causes them to thrive

Result in biodiversity loss (HIPPO) ‘I’ stands for invasive species

Recommendations

Use weed whacker Cut 6-12 inches above ground

and remove stalks Next day, remove root crowns

with shovels Drier days are easier to remove

root crowns

Steps on Removing Blackberries

1. Cut back the surrounding vines to access base of the stalks using weed whacker, leaving 6-8 inches of the base.

2. Use spades to shovel around base of the revealed stalk.3. Reveal roots by using the shovel as a lever and lifting.4. Pull root crowns out of the dirt using gardening gloves,

careful not to shake small parts of the roots back into the soil.

5. Put the roots crowns into garbage bags to be put in municipal yard waste.

6. We disposed of stalks in the compost pile.7. Observe disposed stalks for possible growth.

Problems

Oregon Weather Communication Need to plant local replacement

plants, achieves: Increase biodiversityDecrease soil erosion

Time consuming to remove large area Funding

Natural Step – Step 1

1. Take Can the earth replace what I

consume? Are the materials renewable? This would be met if we replaced with

native plants Part of future plans

Soil still retains its fertility

Natural Step – Step 2

2. Make Am I poisoning the earth, water or

air? Didn’t use herbicide or other poisons

No synthetics or toxics Used all natural removal methods

Natural Step – Step 3

3. Respect Do I honor the biodiversity of life?

Removed invasive species Future plans involve replacing with

local plants

Natural Step – Step 4

4. Choose Are the decisions I make fair and

equitable (human rights)? We worked ourselves and with class

volunteers We only beat Luke when absolutely

necessary

2nd Semester Goals Achieved Revised interactive CV campus

map Surveyed land and

identified/targeted invasive Cleared a 100 sq. foot patch of

blackberries Identified natural ground cover

plants

Native Replacement Plants

Fool’s huckleberry

Salmonberry

Red huckleberry

Clearing Blackberries

Conclusion

Blackberries time-consuming to remove Leaving stalks in school compost does

not grow more blackberries Root crowns must be disposed elsewhere

domestic yard waste Important to replace with native plants

Future Plans

Share information with future classes Meet with administrators Determine what ground cover plants

to use Work more on the field Create organization or club that

maintains campus Target other invasives

Questions?