FAIR HAVEN: NEVER-ENDING WAR WITH VINES
Jeff Dement gives a lesson in tree identification during Saturday’s walk through the Fair Haven Fields Natural Area. (Photo by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)
By SARAH KLEPNER
The Fair Haven Fields Natural Area Committee is engaged in a quiet, prolonged battle, one of forest versus invasive vines that have become familiar in Monmouth County.
About 20 people turned out Saturday to witness the ground gained in the war on a walk guided by Jeff Dement of the American Littoral Society. He pointed out the different types of invasive plants, including Oriental bittersweet and Japanese honeysuckle.
“The way vines kill is by robbing trees of sunlight,” he said. “The forest is all about competition, usually for sunlight.”