‘Vine That Ate the South’ Discovered in West Cape May

WEST CAPE MAY — Kudzu is here. It’s not a new brand of Japanese motorcycle or a monster from a sci-fi film, it’s an invasive vine that seems to cover every vacant lot and telephone pole in Georgia and Tennessee.
That’s the reason for the dead vegetation along Cape Island Creek near the intersection of Elmira Street/Leaming Avenue and Park Boulevard.
A few small patches of Kudzu were discovered on privately owned land on both sides of Elmira Street, according to Suzanne Treyger, stewardship project coordinator for NJ Audubon Society.
“We’ve identified Kudzu as what we would call an emerging invasive plant, there’s not a lot of it but enough to where it’s a big concern,” she said. “It’s the ‘Vine That Ate the South,’ and our climate down on the island is really similar to some Southern climates.”
“The concern is that it could spread very rapidly throughout this area,” she continued. “When we find it, we try to move quickly to try to eradicate the small population to prevent it from spreading.”
The dead vegetation is the result of herbicide spraying on behalf of the Cape Island Habitat Restoration Task Force (CIHRTF), a newly formed Coordinated Weed Management Area, organized by NJ Audubon in late October 2010.
The total area targeted for spraying with the herbicide Glyphosate, by U.S Fish and Wildlife Services Partners Program, was less than one half acre, said Treyger. Along with Kudzu, the Elmira Street properties had Japanese Knotweed and Porcelain-berry covering trees and shrubs along the roadside.
Glyphosate is also known by the consumer brand name of Roundup. The same herbicide was applied in 2006 to the Nature Conservancy property along Sunset Boulevard.
Treyger said the Nature Conservancy owns a fair amount of property along Cape Island Creek and it is active in managing invasive plants.
The mission of CIHRTF is to identify, control and monitor invasive plants, restore and improve wildlife habitat, and provide outreach and education to the community of Cape Island, according to Treyger.
“There’s quite a few invasive plants present on Cape Island especially invasive vines,” she said.
Other plant species considered invasive are: Mile-a-Minute, Sweet-Autumn Clematis, Japanese Honeysuckle, Autumn Olive, Russian Olive, Tree of Heaven, Oriental Bittersweet, Privet spp., English Ivy, Spotted Knapweed, Field Bindweed, Weeping Love Grass, Garlic Mustard, Japanese Stiltgrass, Chinese Silvergrass, Purple Loosestrife, Multi-Flora Rose and Phragmites.
“There’s a lot of English Ivy that’s escaped into natural areas on the island,” said Treyger.
How did Kudzu find its way from the deep South to New Jersey? Treyger said it is possible a well-meaning person thought the Kudzu vine was pretty and brought it here from the South. She said it has turned up in some backyards in West Cape May as well as along the creek.
Kudzu may have hitched a ride with another plant or came here in seeds, said Treyger. Climate change may make our area more hospitable to Southern invasive plants, she said.
Project partners with CIHRTF include NJ Audubon, state chapter of the Nature Conservancy, state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Bureau of Land Management, state DEP Division of Parks and Forestry, and the NJ Invasive Species Strike Team (NJISST).
Treyger said the task force was interested in reaching out to private landowners to help them identify invasive plants in their own backyard and create better wildlife habitats.
Four years of herbicide treatment are proposed for the Elmira Street area with smaller spray areas each year followed by replacing invasive species with native plants and grasses that are beneficial to wildlife.
NJ Audubon received funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation to start a Coordinated Weed Management Area for Cape Island, a crucial bird migration area.
Some of what is considered invasive in a natural area may be sold at local nurseries as a backyard planting. Treyger said the task force has reached out to nurseries and garden centers. The state has limited regulations in the selling of some plants known to be invasive, she said.
Early in the year, CIHRTF began a 5.5 acre reforestation restoration project at Cape May Point State Park. The site has been carefully cleared of vines while leaving the mature trees to provide a seed source for under story regeneration once invasive plant control treatments have been applied for two to three years. Deer fence will be erected at this site to encourage and enable native tree and shrub regeneration.
CIHRTF is also involved with several invasive plant control and habitat creation/restoration projects on private land, including the Meadows at Cape Island condominiums in West Cape May where a “wet meadow” with native shrubs and grasses was created and ongoing Phragmites control at the Rea Farm.
Numerous presentations about CIHRTF and invasive species issues on Cape Island have been given to various groups and organizations, two invasive plant identification classes have been given to the public, outreach materials have been distributed at several events, and six volunteer events were hosted where participants helped to snip and pull target invasive plants at several locations on Cape Island.
If you have something growing in backyard you suspect may be an invasive plant, you may contact suzanne.treyger@njaudubon.org.