Pollution is fueling the vines that choke gardens and forests

[babylonsister]

Any thoughts? My weeds are out of control, so I suppose I could blame it on pollution.

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2OTYyNjkx




WASHINGTON -- Vines -- poison ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, kudzu -- snake through the back yard, girdling trees and strangling shrubs, thriving, scientists say, on the same pollution blamed for global warming.

From backyard gardens to the Amazon rain forest, vines are growing faster, stronger and, in the case of poison ivy, more poisonous on the heavy doses of carbon dioxide that come from burning such fossil fuels as gasoline and coal.

Complaints about vine infestation have increased tenfold in a decade, said Carole Bergmann, forest ecologist for the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. Vines have choked gardens, ruined brickwork, disrupted bird habitat and clogged paths, ponds and air conditioning and electronic equipment.

"The woods they used to know have just changed character," Bergmann said. "They're covered with vines. The trees are being weakened and falling over -- or strangled."

more...

[dcfirefighter]

1. Nothing a little fire wouldn't cure

When the Europeans first came to the east coast of this continent, the forests they found were park-like: the natives here periodically burned the underbrush.

Now, such fires are extinguished as soon as is possible.

[jean]

2. there is hope - plants can help take the carbond dioxide load

[HamdenRice]

3. My local woodland parks have been decimated

There are two very big, well forested parks where I live. This spring, the trees were decimated. Some have fallen over, uprooted. More bizarrely, many simply broke in half revealing they are rotten in their cores.

Not just vines, but fungus has run wild, killing everything. I fear that our local ecosystem is history.