Invasive Species Control

Managing invasive species is a major focus of Cornell Plantations’ Natural Areas Program. A non-native plant or animal is considered “invasive” if its spread impacts the long-term integrity of local ecological communities. 

Our management efforts involve:

• controlling highly invasive species that have infested our natural areas
• working to prevent their spread to new locations, and
• striving to prevent new invasive species from being introduced or established.

We make significant effort to control the most damaging plant invaders, including pale swallow-wort (Cynanchum rossicum), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), Norway maple (Acer platanoides), common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), and amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii).

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Control

The recent discovery of hemlock woolly adelgids in the central Finger Lakes region poses a new threat to our natural areas.  This invasive insect, which has decimated eastern hemlock stands throughout the eastern U.S., has now been found on trees around Cascadilla Gorge and Beebe Lake.

To learn more about the hemlock woolly adelgid, what Plantations is doing about it, and what you can do to curb its spread, click here.

Invasive Species Code of Conduct

To prevent the intentional introduction of new invasive plant species, Cornell Plantations is adopting a “Code of Conduct for Botanic Gardens and Arboreta.”  The purpose of the document and its recommendations is to balance our public garden mission of maintaining diverse horticultural collections with our conservation mission of preserving natural areas and the broader environment.  The Code of Conduct will direct how invasive plants are managed in Plantations’ collections.