Ailanthus altissima Miller [Swingle] (tree of heaven) is a non-indigenous invasive plant that is aggressively competing with native vegetation throughout most of the United States. Proper management of this tree is required to protect and maintain biodiversity and ecological processes in the forests. I explored several possible methods to manage the spread of this invasive species, including herbicide injection, prescribed fire, and the combination of herbicide injection and prescribed fire. Additionally, I evaluated the potential for herbicide translocation from injected trees to neighboring non-injected woody species.
Herbicide injection with imazapyr not only produced 100% mortality in the targeted A. altissima, but it also translocated and produced mortality in 17.5% of neighboring trees within 3 m. Herbicide injection with glyphosate killed small and medium-size trees, but it was not effective in killing large trees. Prescribed fire alone killed the above-ground stems, but the resprouts returned the stem density to the same pre-fire levels. Accordingly, fire is not recommended as a control strategy for A. altissima.