Invasive species often have negative impacts on the ecosystems they disturb, altering the growth patterns and species composition of the communities in ways that may not be completely reversed. This research focused specifically on the case of Robinia pseudoacacia, or Black locust, in its invasion of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. Black locust is a nitrogen-fixing tree that alters the low nutrient soils in which the Pine Bush’s native species are accustomed to growing. To try and restore invaded areas of the Pine Bush, the Preserve has manually removed Black locust and performed prescribed fires for the past seventeen years. My research sought to assess the Pine Bush’s efforts and assess restoration of the Preserve’s native vegetation. Three different site types were surveyed for species composition and percent cover: restored sites that have had Black locust removed, barren sites that have never been invaded, and locust invaded sites. Ordination analysis was performed to compare how similar the different sites were. Ordination showed distinct groupings between the restored, invaded, and barren sites, indicating that all three differed from each other. The restored areas of the Pine Bush appeared to be more similar to the barren sites than the invaded ones, with those having been burned and restored a longer time ago, respectively, showing greater similarity. These results suggest that the Pine Bush’s restoration efforts have been effective in eliminating Black locust and reinstating native species in restored sites. However, time was shown to be a contributing factor in restoration and an independent barrier to full reversion to pre-invasion conditions may be present and causing those sites that have been restored to be “stuck” in a novel, stable state.
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