Since its first introduction to the U.S. from Asia in the late 1800s, Japanese barberry has become one of the most dominant and widespread woody plants in Northeastern forests. Its allelopathic properties, shade tolerance, and resistance to deer browsing allow it to turn forest understories into near-monocultures of the invasive plant at the expense of native shrubs and regenerating trees. Yet, little remains known about the effects of Japanese barberry on native wildlife and forest ecosystem function. A new study from Washington State University (Pullman, WA) and Great Hollow Nature Preserve and Ecological Research Center (New Fairfield, CT) has shown that forest patches that have been heavily invaded by Japanese barberry have a significantly lower abundance and species richness of leaf-litter and foliage-dwelling invertebrates than areas of the same forest that are relatively free of Japanese barberry, which could trigger cascading impacts up the food web to numerous other species.
Click here for original story, Invasive Japanese barberry drives down invertebrate richness and abundance
Source: Phys.org