Environmentalists have warned about the danger of ash-leaved maple to humans
Ash—leaved maple or American maple is a deciduous tree of the genus Maples. Plant pollen is a strong allergen and can cause severe seasonal allergies, including hay fever. On February 5, Izvestia was informed by the Candidate of Biological Sciences, curator of Chemistry and Biology, Evening Natural Science School ("VENSH"). Ksenia Lebedeva-Georgievskaya and Yaroslav Lebedev, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Environmental Management at the RUDN University Institute of Ecology.
"The ash-leaved maple is extremely unpretentious and can grow on any soil with sufficient moisture, preferring, nevertheless, fertile soils. In addition, it is very frost-resistant, and its individual populations are seen even in Yakutia, where temperatures drop below -50 degrees in winter. Until recently, the ash—leaved maple was used in urban landscaping, but uncontrolled — the young growth forming the voluminous crown was not destroyed," the experts explained.
According to them, until recently, ash maple was widely used in urban landscaping. However, the lack of control over young shoots and the untimely removal of plants led to its widespread spread.
In natural ecosystems, the plant behaves like an aggressive invasive species. Maple actively displaces native plants, reducing the species diversity of flora and, as a result, fauna. Floodplain ecosystems are particularly vulnerable, where it prevents the natural regeneration of willows and poplars, forming dense thickets and changing the structure of plant communities.
Environmentalists note that the fight against the spread of American maple is also possible at the level of individual sites. The most effective measure remains cutting down the plant, followed by planting traditional tree species for the region that can compete with an invasive species and restore natural ecosystems.
On the same day, the newspaper Kommersant reported that the ash-leaved maple, like the Sosnovsky hogweed, may receive the official status of harmful plants for Russian forests and be subject to mandatory destruction. It poses a serious problem not only for forest ecosystems, but also for urban areas.
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