Save the Children

By Barbara Walvoord

First published in the Lathrop Lamp Post for Feb. 8-14, 2020

Our Lathrop forests are busy producing children.  Mature trees are typically surrounded by a skirt of sprouts and saplings that sprang from seeds dropped from the mother tree or carried in by squirrels, chipmunks, birds, or on the coats of deer—it takes a village to plant a forest.

Our baby trees are already sequestering carbon, filtering water, and supporting wildlife, from the fungi that live on their roots to the insects that eat their leaves.  An oak tree, for example, supports 518 species of native butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera).  “Support” means the larvae (caterpillars), most of whom can feed on only one

What a Beautiful Sight!

by Barbara Walvoord

First published in the Lathrop Lamp Post September 29-Oct. 5, 2018

Bright orange bittersweet berries in this photo taken in 2014 on Cranberry Lane may look beautiful draping our trees in fall. But the the really beautiful sight is the DEAD vines of Oriental bittersweet, as shown at the top of this article,–same patch of bittersweet, after we killed the vines.

Alien invasive oriental bittersweet vines smother a tree and weigh it down, often killing it.  Native grape vines do the same.  Grape used to thrive only at the edges of large contiguous forests, but these days, since our forests are so cut up, edges–and grapes–are everywhere.  It’s a native acting invasive.

Vine fruits feed birds, but alien and invasive vines also harm wildlife by killing trees and shrubs and forming a monoculture.  For example, an oak tree supports the larvae of 518 species of native butterflies and moths.  Maple supports 287.

Illegal Aliens at Lathrop

by Barbara Walvoord

(Originally published in Lathrop Lamp Post, June 10-16, 2017)

I’m not talking about humans.  In fact, Lathrop has recently joined with other Valley residents to help welcome immigrants fleeing danger and oppression in other countries.

But  illegal alien PLANTS are a different story.  Some alien plants, having left behind the enemies and competitors that control them in their native lands, have overtaken woods and fields throughout the U.S., and have shoved out our native plants.  This is bad because these aliens did not co-evolve with our native wildlife, so they do not as fully provide the food and cover that our native birds and other wildlife need. Because these plants threaten our native plants and wildlife, many states, including Massachusetts, have declared certain alien invasive plants illegal to sell or propagate.

For example, Lathrop’s landscaping has many (now illegal) burning bushes, also called winged euonymus (Euonymus alatus). Their seeds are sprouting in our woods on both campuses. This internet photo shows a woods taken over by winged  euonymus.  The second photo shows winged euonymus coming into our Lathrop woods in 2014.  Since then, the Land Conservation Committee, with grants, resident donations, and thousands of hours by resident volunteers and by our