Battle of the Aliens!
On a walk through Mill Creek Park in South Portland, the Mahoney Environmental Explorers noticed that a woody vine with orange berries was wrapping itself around a large bush with winged stems. “That is strange,” said a curious explorer.
Upon further inspection, the students and their teacher, Greg Carter, used Vital Signs species cards to identify the intertwining plants as two different invasive plants, Oriental bittersweet and burning bush. The students found the idea of two foreign species competing in their school’s backyard intriguing, and one student compared the situation to an infamous movie that features a great battle between two aliens.
The Mahoney Environmental Explorers define what they do as “science outside after school.” The students are involved in the after-school group because they have questions about the living world around them. They like to get their hands dirty while exploring for clues about how it all works and why.
and above burning bush, also an invasive plant.
On this particular trip to the park behind their school, the students determined that because the two plants are invasive species and they seemed to be competing with each other, this situation warranted a discussion. One student wondered aloud “Which plant is more aggressive?” A second student observed that Oriental bittersweet “seemed more aggressive because it was outgrowing the rest of the plants to get access to sunlight.” The students were surprised when Mr. Carter told them that burning bush is sold by nurseries and was probably planted in the park by humans. He noted that Oriental bittersweet is used to make holiday wreaths. When berries fall from the wreaths they can colonize new areas.
The Explorers launched into a lively discussion about the needs of all living things and how an invasive species may inhibit another species’ ability to survive by outcompeting it for essential resources like food, space, and water. The students were concerned that the Oriental bittersweet was wrapping around and above the trees near the burning bush, possibly preventing the other plants from receiving the sunlight that they need to make food. The students were curious if since the Oriental bittersweet was able to climb over another invasive species, it might be able to overtake all of the plants in Mill Creek Park.
Do you think it is possible for the Oriental bittersweet to overgrow all of the other plants in the park? Would a park full of Oriental bittersweet be a park you would want to visit? Why or why not?
