Drs. Dott and Korb tackle invasive Tamarisk along the Dolores River

Drs. Dott and Korb began the first of 2 summers of work trying to understand the dynamics of tamarisk invasion along the Dolores River in SW Colorado.  Tamarisk (Tamarix. spp.) is a non-native tree introduced for erosion control in the southwest in the early 1900s, which has since invaded into riparian habitats throughout the intermountain west.  With this project, Drs. Dott and Korb are investigating what current environmental conditions seem to favor tamarisk growth over native woody species like willow and cottonwood, and how the understory vegetation varies among stands of these woody plants.  They are also interested in determining when tamarisk became established along the Dolores River, by using dendrochronology to calculate tree ages.  All of this information will be useful to land managers along the Dolores, as a major initiative is underway to remove tamarisk and encourage native species to move back in and fill the void.  The crew of 4 biology majors worked hard this summer in challenging conditions collecting the preliminary data and samples to make this research possible.

 Field crew of Biology majors include:

• Sara Bombaci
• Griffin Shaughnessy
• Eric Falk
• Bryan Barnett

                                                                       Tamarix chinensis (Tamarisk)

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