Non-native invasive plants threaten the wildlife and habitat at East Point Audubon Sanctuary in Biddeford Pool. Maine Audubon is working to identify, remove, control, and manage invasive plants and revegetate with native plants, in order to restore and rebuild the natural biodiversity that supports the widest array of wildlife.
Many heavily disturbed coastal habitats are overrun with invasive plants and East Point Audubon Sanctuary is no exception. Privet, bittersweet, honeysuckle, barberry, buckthorn, and Norway Maple have taken over the landscape, crowding out native plants that sustain native insects, which in turn support the birds and pollinators that are key to biodiversity. East Point also is home to a pitch pine forest which warrants safeguarding and careful stewardship.
Maine Audubon Properties Director Noah Gleason-Hart says what’s most exciting about this initiative is the ability to work together with other landowners on the peninsula for a rare chance to address invasive species across property lines—which invasive plants don’t recognize. Part of a larger effort throughout the area, invasive removal work has also taken place at the Fletcher’s Neck Sanctuary, the former site of the Marie Joseph Spiritual Center, now owned by Biddeford Pool Land Trust, as well as at the Abenakee Club, the golf and tennis club adjacent to the East Point sanctuary.
Last fall, Maine Audubon contracted with a consultant, Parterre Ecological, to get a survey of the area and assess options for treatment. Together, a thoughtful treatment plan was created and all required permits from the town and state were received. The plan, which will be carried out by Wilkinson Ecological Design, involves an array of methods, including brush mowing and targeted, limited herbicide applications to stumps and foliage. hand pulling, to brush mowing, to limited use of herbicides. Says Gleason-Hart, “We will use a wide variety of methods, and in every circumstance, will use the option that has the lowest human and environmental health hazards.”
The treatment plan is a long-term one, and Maine Audubon anticipates several years of follow-up to the initial work done this spring, summer, and fall. Depending on how the native plant seed bank responds, native plant revegetation is anticipated for the future, which could include planting native shrubs where invasive species removal was heaviest, primarily around property edges. Seeding and planting of native trees, shrubs, and forbs may then be used in lesser treated areas.
Please note that trails will be closed during select times; look for postings at the site and on our website and social media channels.
This work is made possible thanks to support from the Biddeford Pool community.
If you have any questions about this work, please contact properties@maineaudubon.org.
