ST. PAUL — Oriental bittersweet is an invasive woody vine that can overtake and destroy forests. It is present at multiple sites in southeastern Minnesota and the Twin Cities area and efforts are underway to eradicate those infestations. A key component of that work is finding infestations early so that they can be controlled. This can be particularly challenging along the Mississippi River bluffs which are steep making survey on foot slow and difficult. If areas of Oriental bittersweet are left unmanaged they provide a source of seed to be spread by birds to new areas.
The MDA and U of M recently began testing drones as a more efficient way to identify Oriental bittersweet infestations in these inaccessible areas. Read more about this effort and Oriental bittersweet at the MDA website. This work is funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources.
— Minnesota Department of Agriculture
For more news from Minnesota, click here.