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Coral Ardisia: What It Is and Why It Matters
Over the past weeks, we here at “Stop Coral Ardisia Today” have worked to confront an important ecological issue here at the University of Florida: the spread of Ardisia crenata, or Coral Ardisia, through natural areas on campus. Coral Ardisia was first brought to Florida, which is already a hub for invasive species due to a temperate climate and proximity to water, from China, as part of the ornamental plant trade, and has spread into many natural areas (Niu, 2012). At UF, Coral Ardisia has shaded out small, native seedlings, as well as covered understory (Chiocchio, 2010). We started with a single question to guide our investigation:
How does Coral Ardisia impact the presence of native plants in UF’s natural areas?
When we began, we believed that Coral Ardisia would negatively impact the presence of native species, meaning that in plotted areas, there would be significantly more Coral Ardisia than other species. Regarding places where Coral Ardisia had been treated, we believed biodiversity and plant presence would be higher. In most other cases about invasive species we’ve handled, they have taken resources and habitat space from the native species. Invasive plant species, in particular, have particular qualities that let them thrive and harm native species, such as flowering early, producing abundant seeds which are then widely dispersed, and growing rapidly. Coral Ardisia in particular has a high germination rate; 84-98% of seeds become fully grown plants 40 days after the fruit has been removed from the plant (Chiocchio, 2010).
So why should people care about this issue? Many people think, it’s just a plant, and it even has pretty red berries. When considering the environment, though, this Christmas-y plant can make the season less cheery. Florida has many endemic species—that is, organisms only found in Florida—and the presence of invasive plants such as Coral Ardisia threatens their livelihood and could ultimately change the biogeochemistry, hydrology, and geomorphology of a habitat, which has cascading environmental effects (Gordon, 1998). Plus, there are economic factors to think about. Producing Coral Ardisia is a facet of the Floridian economy that provides some farmers’ livelihoods (Davis, 2004), but the price of managing and removing invasive species can cost the state more than it bargained for. It’s estimated that the US spends $100 billion annually in managing invasive species (Pimentel, 2005). Between the dangers to the economy and environment, it becomes clear that Coral Ardisia must be stopped today.
(Sources under the cut)
Chiocchio, P. (Ed.). (n.d.). Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. Retrieved May 18, 2010, from http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/
Davis, K. J., Wilson, S. B., & Wirth, F. F. (2004). Florida Nursery Sales and Economic Impacts of 14 Potentially Invasive Landscape Plant Species. Journal of Environmental Horticulture, 22(1), 12-16.
Gordon, Doria, (1998) Effects of Invasive, Non-Indigenous Plant Species On Ecosystem Processes: Lesson From Florida, Ecological Applications, 8(4) pp. 975-989
Niu, H., Hong, L., Wang, Z., Shen, H., Ye, W., Mu, H., . . . Bradshaw, C. J. (2012). Inferring the invasion history of coral berry Ardisia crenata from China to the USA using molecular markers. Ecological Research, 27(4), 809-818. doi:10.1007/s11284-012-0957-1
Pimentel, D., Zuninga, R., & Morrison, D. (2005). Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics,52(3), 273-288. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2004.10.002
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Our Methods
In order to identify the disturbance Coral Ardisia is causing the ecosystems in natural areas around the University of Florida, we collected data on the spread of Coral Ardisia in comparison to the biodiversity of native plants in the understory. By counting the amounts of the invasive Coral Ardisia and other native plant species within ten 1 meter by 1 meter plots, our research team was able to calculate the percentage of Coral Ardisia in comparison to other species of plant which belong in the natural Gainesville forest areas.
The areas we had visited in order to pursue our data collection on this devious "Christmas berry" were the University of Florida's Natural Area Teaching Laboratory, Lake Wauburg Outdoor Recreation site, and the trails and forest area surrounding Lake Alice. Out of these three locations, Lake Wauburg seemed to be the only spot claimed to be Coral Ardisia controlled, and therefore we wanted to also wanted to see the after effects of a successful invasion management.
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The Results Are In!
Coral Ardisia has officially invaded the Natural Area Teaching Lab and Lake Alice located on the campus of University of Florida. Coral Ardisia accounted for 40% of plants identified at NATL and 45% of plants at Lake Alice, showing how dominate this plant can be. So, when we learned that Lake Wauburg (14 miles south of campus) had successfully eradicated it from the area, we had to check it out and see for ourselves. Sure enough, after surveying the entire south shore of Lake Wauburg, out of the total amount of plant species counted, Coral Ardisia accounted for just 2% of plant species and was located in a very secluded area.
Interestingly enough, out of all three locations, Lake Alice had both the highest presence of Coral Ardisia and on average the tallest Coral Ardisia plants at around 78 cm, whereas Lake Wauburg had the shortest plants with an average height just under 10 cm.
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THIS IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
The University of Florida
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PSA: Coral Ardisia is a Major Threat
As a public service announcement, we urge Gainesville citizens to stop planting Coral Ardisia as an ornamental plant in their gardens. Especially now during the Christmas season as the appeal of the plant is dangerously high due to it being referred to as the Christmas berry.
We here at “stop-coral-ardisia-today” want to inform everyone of the widespread effects invasive plant species can have on habitat structure, species richness and species abundance. Coral ardisia can take over significant portions of the forest understory (up to 45% as seen at Lake Alice), therefore outcompeting native plant species such as sprouting oak trees. Coral ardisia takes up needed minerals and water from the soil and blocks out sunlight, which otherwise goes towards the growth of native species. The ecological impacts of invasive species are huge. They are second to habitat loss as a threat to native ecosystems and species in the US. In addition, the more Coral Ardisia is present in a given region, the taller it has been able to grow, showing that prolonged unmanaged growth of the species leads to not only larger areas of habitat being invaded but also the presence of larger invasive species. In addition, Coral ardisia produces abundant seeds through its often year-round red berries and as it is spreads by animal-dispersed seeds, it can inhabit vast areas and can be difficult to control.
However, the data shows that it is possible to manage this invasive species efficiently and successfully as seen at Lake Wauburg. Humans have introduced and propagated this invasive species, so it is our responsibility to manage Coral ardisia and restore the original habitat structure to maintain the stability of the Gainesville ecosystem. In order to do so, we need to educate others about the detrimental effects of non-native invasive species on habitats as well as biodiversity and stop the ornamental plant trade of the species.
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Ardisia crenata, or Coral Ardisia, is a small upright shrub that is used and sold extensively in the horticulture industry as an ornamental plant – often called Christmas berry.
UF Center of Aquatic and Invasive Plants
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