Does land-use history facilitate non-native plant invasion? A field experiment with Celastrus orbiculatus in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest in the southern Appalachians from 2008 to 2009

Although historic land use is often implicated in non-native plant invasion of forests, little is known about how land-use legacies might actually facilitate invasion. The researchers conducted a 2-year field seeding experiment in western North Carolina, USA, to compare germination and first-year seedling survival of Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. in stands that had been cultivated and abandoned a century earlier and were dominated by tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.), and in paired stands that had never been cultivated and were dominated by oaks (Quercus spp.). Experiments were conducted at five sites with paired tulip poplar and oak stands by varying litter mass (none, low, or high) and litter type (tulip poplar or oak).