Great Smoky Mountains National Park Exotics Species Locations

Exotic plants are species that have been introduced to an ecosystem by human activities. Usually exotics come from other countries or continents, but they may also come from other regions of the United States. Because exotics grow in new environments that may lack natural controls (diseases, predators, parasites, climate, etc.), they often have an advantage over native species and can easily out-compete them for habitat. This threatens the survival of native plants and animals and may cause irrevocable changes to an ecosystem. Exotic plants also take an economic toll. Nationwide, it is estimated that invasive plants occupy approximately 7 million acres, an area over three times the size of Yellowstone National Park. This represents billions of dollars in lost recreational opportunities and timber production as well as costs associated with the control of these species. Several factors make Great Smoky Mountains National Park especially vulnerable to invasions by exotic species. The park’s climate is relatively mild with abundant rainfall. Mountains, with their varying elevations and aspects, offer diverse habitats suitable for a wide variety of plants, both native and exotic. Climate and habitats in the Smokies also closely resemble those in parts of eastern Europe and central Asia. Consequently, plants introduced from these areas usually thrive in the Great Smoky Mountains. In fact, botanists have identified over 380 species of exotic plants in the park. Some were brought in by early settlers; others were transported by wind, water, or animals from infested areas. Still others came in on fill dirt used in construction projects or were accidentally transported in by park visitors. While the majority of the park’s exotic plants do not significantly alter the landscape or spread rapidly, 59 species are aggressive and do pose serious threats to the park’s natural ecosystems. These aggressive exotics include kudzu, mimosa, multiflora rose, bush honeysuckle, Japanese grass, Japanese spirea, and garlic mustard.  This geospatial dataset represents site locations for exotic plant treatment areas that have undergone intensive field-mapping using polygon feature class.

The GRSM exotic plants database is a multi-faceted, SQL-based database containing location and treatment information for the exotic invasive plant control program. The exotic plant site location information includes plant species treated, geospatial information (point and polygon), site directions, and site notes. The exotic plant treatment information includes treatment method, herbicide and adjuvant brands and amounts used, area treated, field notes, and employees present. The purpose of this database is to allow easy site re-location for multi-year treatments, easy treatment data sums and sorting for end of season and project-based reporting, tracking of long-term trends in exotic invasive species management, and to make exotic plant work scheduling more efficient.

The official mandate of the National Park Service is to ‘conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.’ When this guideline was set forth in the 1916 Organic Act, no one’s worst nightmares could have foretold the threats our national parks face today: poor air quality, urban sprawl at the boundaries, and a tremendous influx of exotic species. Still, the earliest NPS policies provide protection for the biological diversity of native species (from genetic through community levels) and for the prevention and control of exotic species, which constitute a primary threat. Additional guidelines were established in 1999, when President Clinton issued an Executive Order directing all federal agencies to prevent and control invasive species and use native plants in landscaping. At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, some of the earliest exotic invaders include chestnut blight, European wild boar and rainbow trout (introduced in the first part of the past century), balsam woolly adelgid, dogwood anthracnose, beech bark disease, hemlock woolly adelgid, and butternut canker. There are also around 380 species of exotic plants that remain from old homesites or have invaded disturbed areas such as roadsides, wildland fires, or construction sites. The National Park Service manages only about 60 exotic plant species, those known to be invasive enough to displace native plant communities, hybridize with natives, and interfere with cultural landscapes. The history of exotic plant management at the Smokies goes back to the 1940’s, when fire control aides spent some of their off-season time on eradication of kudzu at old homesites. This early work provided a good foundation for the expanded resource management program that began in the 1980s to implement an integrated pest management program. A team of botanists from the University of Tennessee (Drs. Ed Clebsch, Richard Clements, and Gene Wofford) conducted a baseline inventory of invasive exotic plants. Strategies were then developed to control each plant, based on the species biology. Control methods include hand-pulling, mechanical cutting, and selective use of herbicides. The latter are carefully chosen for minimal environmental impact and used as sparingly as possible. Currently nearly 1200 exotic plant sites are documented in the Park’s database. All treatments and monitoring activities are recorded, and the Access database is referenced to Geographic Information System.

Tags: exotics-invasives, forestry, great-smoky-mountains-national-park, grsm, inventory-monitoring, research, vegetation
Organization: Department of the Interior