University of Georgia (State Botanical Garden of Georgia)

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, University of Georgia, will restore and enhance native plant diversity following a program to remove the invasive Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) in two of its natural plant and animal communities--the floodplain forest and Piedmont prairie. The garden will remove secondary invasive species, stabilize the riverbanks where privet has been removed; remove resistant patches of giant bamboo; and increase native plant diversity in the floodplain by propagating understory species collected from the site. The garden will also accelerate expansion of a high-value plant community rarely seen intact in Georgia - a Piedmont prairie - by establishing 20,000 plugs of native species, removing invasive species, and enriching low diversity sections of the site with appropriate grass and wildflower species. Success of these stewardship efforts will be measured through vegetation surveys; evaluation of the survival of propagated plants; and regular inventories of bird diversity in both habitats. The garden will share project results with professional colleagues and with its public audience through interpretive signage, classes, and publications.