In the Southwestern US tamarisk trees are a huge problem, they spread really fast along rivers and streams and their leaves have a lot of salt in them and shed constantly so they choke out native plant species. When I was a kid I used to play in the river a lot and I can remember tamarisk trees were the only thing that grew there, any other type of tree or plant was pretty much nonexistent. Luckily though there is a species of beetle that feeds on tamarisk and nothing else, they were brought in a few years ago to control the tamarisk population and they seem to be helping a ton. They cleared out all the dead tamarisk trees and now the riverbanks are filled with cottonwoods, willows, and reeds, it’s really nice to see.
In the Southwestern US tamarisk trees are a huge problem, they spread really fast along rivers and streams and their leaves have a lot of salt in them and shed constantly so they choke out native plant species. When I was a kid I used to play in the river a lot and I can remember tamarisk trees were the only thing that grew there, any other type of tree or plant was pretty much nonexistent. Luckily though there is a species of beetle that feeds on tamarisk and nothing else, they were brought in a few years ago to control the tamarisk population and they seem to be helping a ton. They cleared out all the dead tamarisk trees and now the riverbanks are filled with cottonwoods, willows, and reeds, it’s really nice to see.