Rockbridge Conservation Virtual Seminar Series Recording: Kudzu and Beyond – Addressing Invasive Plants in Rockbridge

Kudzu, Chinese privet, Japanese knotweed, burning bush, tree of heaven… we have many invasive plants here in Rockbridge County. What can you do about them?

Jared Lee, associate biology professor at Southern Virginia University, talks about invasive plants in general and issues associated with them as well as local invasives, in particular kudzu, its history, and some recent research on it.

Jared’s work focuses on identifying invasion routes for invasive species using genetic markers. The lab he worked in for his PhD research focused on a number of plant and animal species introduced between the United States and China including kudzu, privet, and mosquitofish. Jared has observed and collected invasive species throughout the United States, China, and the Philippines. Presented January 18, 2023

Chat Summary:

01:22:20 Susan B: Would it be easier to contro Kudzu in the winter time when it is dormant?
01:26:22 Susan M: This is a great article on controlling kudzu. Many groups have found these approaches to be effective. It is ESSENTIAL to pull out the crown of the plant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pQKf-PIaLQ
01:27:48 JIM M: Thanks JARED – Can you show a picture a Kudzu leaves and stem so we can recognize it in summer and winter ?
01:27:50 Beverly L: Is there any service in this area that will tackle kudzu on residential small wooded area? Poison Ivy keeps me away from area !
01:32:23 Beverly L: do goats eat only green leaves of kudzu?
01:33:40 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Goat busters in Crozet offers goat grazing services to remove invasives. https://vagoatbusters.com/
01:34:15 Susan M: I don’t know about satellites, but they are using drones.
01:37:38 Susan M: In my experience…yes…know your source.
01:40:02 Beverly L: VA General Assembly has 2 billa\s regarding invasive species, HB 2096 and HB1998. Blue Ridge Prism has a LEgislative Alert. Voting this week.
01:40:12 Jared Lee: www.eddmapps.org
01:40:46 Susan M: Beverly, the Ag subcommittee voted today. The invasives bill is going forward.
01:40:55 Jared Lee: https://www.eddmaps.org/
01:42:09 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Thanks everyone for posting the great links and comments in the Chat!
01:43:00 Susan M: Virginia Master Naturalists and Blue Ridge PRISM have developed more resources to guide people on reporting invasive plants. See https://blueridgeprism.org/reporting-invasive-plants-in-virginia/
01:43:23 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Reacted to “Virginia Master Natu…” with 👍
01:43:38 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Reacted to “Beverly, the Ag subc…” with 👍
01:43:51 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Reacted to “VA General Assembly …” with 👍
01:44:24 richard m: Sustainability | Free Full-Text | Employing Machine Learning for Detection of Invasive Species using Sentinel-2 and AVIRIS Data: The Case of Kudzu in the United States
01:44:25 Susan M: The above link provides info on using EDDMapS, specifically.
01:44:44 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Reacted to “Sustainability | Fre…” with 👍
01:44:54 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Reacted to “The above link provi…” with 👍
01:46:31 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Does kudzu thrive on increasing CO2?
01:46:45 John W: Virginia Natural Heritage has a list of invasive plants
01:47:00 richard m: Trouble with Tribbles
01:47:10 Jared Lee: jared.lee@svu.edu
01:47:26 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Reacted to “Trouble with Tribble…” with 👍
01:48:06 Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Conservation: Thanks ! Great Presentation!