User:Gscrib1/Katrina Effects

3 Possible Illustrations: 1) Many Chinese Tallow Trees surrounding one Cyprus Tree. 2) Herbivores, grasshoppers, feeding on a native tree species leaves which is adjacent to the Chinese Tallow owing to the acidity in the Chinese Tallow's leaves. 3) Many Chinese Tallow Trees living in high salt walter area as other native trees die out.

The Chinese Tallow tree, Sapium sebiferum, is a tree native to eastern Asia and is becoming an invasive species in the southeastern United States due to it naturally occurring in similar latitudes of southeastern United States which provides a similar habitat and climate for the Chinese Tallow to be a successful invader 1. Sapium Sebiferum has become a successful invader due to it's evolution of increased competitive ability in that it has evolved reduced efforts in defense and increased efforts in growth and reproduction owing to the lower herbivore activity in its introduced range 2,3. Sapium sebiferum underwent a beneficial changes when it moved from its natural habitat to its introduced range in southeastern United States 2. The Chinese Tallow-tree is providing problems for the gulf coast region because of its invasive abilities 4. According to Nature Conservancy, in 1996 the chinese tallow tree was named one of the worst plant invaders in the United States 3. In it's native habitat, Sapium sebiferum has costly herbivore defenses that require large amounts of energy and resources when there is damage to leaves owing to increased herbivore activity 2. Whereas in southeastern United States, Sapium sebiferum produces much less costly tissue or herbivore defense which is capable of rapid regeneration 2. This may be due to that fact that the Chinese tallow tree has leaves which contain highly toxic chemicals known as phenolic compounds, Beta-glucogallin, chlorogenic acid, tercatain, chebulagic acid, and geranin, which causes low herbivory to the Chinese tallow tree and gives it a higher competitive edge 3. For example, In Texas, The Chinese tallow tree has changed the flora from native coastal grasslands to woodlands filled with mainly Chinese Tallow trees 3. Generalist herbivores avoid the Chinese tallow in its introduced range 3. In the southeastern United States, coastal wetlands are being threatened by the increase in sea levels, increase in hurricane activity, and increase in invasive species, Sapium Sebiferum 4. Louisiana's wetland are disappearing at a rate up to 90 square kilometers a year, among the highest land loss rates in the world 5. As sea levels rise and hurricane activity increases, flooding and salinity are killing off native trees, cyprus trees, which are crucial part of the gulf coast storm surge protection 4. In studies, seedlings of the Sapium sebiferum exhibit higher tolerance of flooding and salinity than to the native cyprus tree 4.

Sources: 1. The Invasive Potential of Chinese Tallow-Tree (Sapium sebiferum Roxb.) in The Southeast. G. Jubinsky and Loran C. Anderson Castanea Vol. 6, No.3(Sep., 1996), pp226-231 ((http://www.jstor.org/pss/4033675)) 2. ROGERS, W. E. and SIEMANN, E. (2004), Invasive ecotypes tolerate herbivory more effectively than native ecotypes of the Chinese tallow tree Sapium sebiferum. Journal of Applied Ecology, 41: 561–570. ((http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00914.x/full)) 3. An investigation of the allelopathic potential of Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferumRoxb). Amy L. Johnson Rice University (May., 2006) UMI Number: 1435734 ((http://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/17886/1435734.PDF?sequence=1)) 4.The Effect of Salinity and Waterlogging on Growth and Survival of Baldcypress and Chinese Tallow Seedlings. William H. Conner Journal of Coastal Research Vol. 10, No. 4 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 1045-1049 ((http://www.jstor.org/pss/4298295)) 5.Science 15 September 2000: Vol. 289 no. 5486 pp. 1860-1863 DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5486.1860