Impacts, Genetic Diversity, And Land Management Strategies Of Post-Fire Paulownia Tomentosa Invasions In The Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, Burke County, NC

Paulownia tomentosa (princess tree) is an exotic-invasive tree species in North America with widespread naturalized populations. Few studies have quantified its impact on native plant communities, characterized its genetic diversity within and across populations, or compared the effectiveness of different management strategies. As exotic-invasive plants expand their ranges, effective land management will rely on an understanding of impacts, dispersal strategies, and control methods associated with plant invasion.Chapter 1 evaluates the effects of varied post-fire P. tomentosa invasions on native plant populations and the genetic diversity within and among distinct P. tomentosa populations separated by a geographic barrier. Plant communities shifted between invaded and non-invaded plots in all invaded areas with decreased diversity indices in invaded plots. Genetic diversity was extremely low within and among P. tomentosa populations indicating that dispersal is high within the LGWA and that one highly competitive genotype may promote the tree’s invasive success. Chapter 2 compares the efficacy and non-target effects of manual and chemical treatment of P. tomentosa invasions in the LGWA. Each treatment method successfully reduced P. tomentosa populations with ~ 1% cover remaining one year following treatment. I observed no differences between plant community composition in manually and chemically treated plots.