Why invasive species matter

A leaf of the invasive plant tree-of-heaven (Ailthanthus altissima), the host plant of the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). Photo by Alison Robey
Every one of us is familiar with invasive species. They are the bright yellow dandelions dotting our lawns, the startlingly green honeysuckles spilling over our roadsides, and the swarming spongy moth caterpillars prematurely emptying our forest’s canopy last summer. But what is it that makes these organisms so invasive in the first place?
Being an invasive species requires two things. First, the species must be nonnative, or from so far away that it only got here because people moved it. Second, the species must be invading, or causing harm to the place it has been moved to. People often disagree about how distant or harmful a species must be to truly count as invasive, but from an ecological perspective, a few nefarious culprits clearly stand out.
A healthy, well-functioning ecosystem typically has many diverse species, each of which consumes and competes for resources like food, water and sunlight, while also providing resources for something else. This competition for survival ensures that different species can coexist without any one of them becoming so plentiful that it displaces the rest. The issue with invasive species is that they sidestep this system.
Many invasive plants, for example, are adapted to different climates than our own, so they avoid competition with native plants for sunlight by holding onto their leaves later into the fall. That’s why, right now, most of the green leaves in our woods belong to Norway maples, Russian olives or Japanese barberries.
They also have the advantage of being unpalatable to our herbivores. Many native insects will only eat the specific native species they’ve evolved to digest, while even our voracious white-tailed deer refuse to munch on most invasive plants until they are on the brink of starvation.
Because of these inherent advantages, nothing stops invasive populations from getting too big. While this can be a problem in and of itself, as an ecologist, I find the most troubling invasive species to be those that facilitate the success of others. This domino effect can be disastrous for entire ecosystems, but it also provides rare opportunities to handle a whole set of invasive problems by focusing on just one species.
The quintessential example in Litchfield County is an aggressive vine called bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus). While native vines cause some damage to trees over time, bittersweet is far more destructive because of the way it climbs: Instead of relying on minuscule roots to clamber up tree bark, it winds repeatedly around the trunk like a constricting snake, eventually choking the tree out by slicing into its bark as it grows.
Because bittersweet is so efficient at killing trees of all sizes, it quickly diminishes forest canopies and stops disturbed areas from regrowing. With the tree cover reduced, rapidly growing invasive shrubs with few predators take their place. On riverbanks, bittersweet invasions facilitate Japanese knotweed, a bamboo-like plant that shades out competitors and dismantles erosion control; deeper in the forest, they make space for Japanese barberries, European privets and multifloral roses, which create boggy thickets that are difficult to navigate and optimal for ticks.
Luckily, consistently removing bittersweet vines from our trees effectively slows down the other sun-loving invaders, protecting both the forest’s overstory and understory. Unluckily, there’s another invasive cascade headed our way and this time, the culprit is one of the trees.
The deceptively named tree-of-heaven is an Asiatic, colony-forming tree with long, fern-like leaves and abundant clusters of stinky, off-white flowers. Popular for landscaping due to its low cost and quick growth, it now persists abundantly along our yards, roads and waterways. While its aggressive spread was already pesky, the issue has been made much more pressing by the recent introduction of the spotted lanternfly.
Spotted lanternflies, which gained fame recently by infesting most of Pennsylvania, are a sap-sucking insect from China. Their eating habits extensively damage many of our agricultural and native plants, from grapes and apples to maples and birches. However, while they will happily eat any of the above, they have a lot of trouble reproducing without their preferred host plant: the tree-of-heaven.
Where invasive tree-of-heaven populations are not already established, spotted lanternfly invasions usually cannot establish, either. Though the bugs’ population has yet to explode in Connecticut, we likely have enough tree-of-heaven now for them to cause devastation akin to the spongy moths soon.
Because our native ecosystem has no way to check the population growth of the lanternflies, the task instead falls to us. Some management options will be available once they arrive, but in the meantime, we can take important, preemptive steps toward limiting the damage by restricting tree-of-heaven spread and instead promoting the growth of our native forests. Take a look at what’s growing in your yards today: Our trees are counting on us!
Alison Robey is a volunteer at the Sharon Audubon Center and a second-year PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.
LAKEVILLE — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at her home. She was the beloved wife of George R. DelPrete for 62 years.
Mrs. DelPrete was born in Burlington, Iowa, on May 31, 1941, daughter of the late George and Judy Meyers. She lived in California for a time and had been a Lakeville resident for the past 55 years.
Survivors, in addition to her husband, George, include son, George R. DelPrete II, daughter, Jena DelPrete Allee, and son Stephen P. DelPrete. Grandchildren; Trey, Cassidy, and Meredith DelPrete, Jack, Will and Finn Allee, and Ali and Nicholas DelPrete.
A Funeral Mass was held at St. Mary’s Church, Lakeville, on Saturday, Oct. 4. May she Rest in Peace.
Ryan Funeral Home, 255 Main St., Lakeville, is in care of arrangements.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com
SHARON — Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti, daughter of George and Mabel (Johnson) Wilbur, the first girl born into the Wilbur family in 65 years, passed away on Oct. 5, 2025, at Noble Horizons.
Shirley was born on Aug. 19, 1948 at Sharon Hospital.
She was raised on her parents’ poultry farm (Odge’s Eggs, Inc.).
After graduating from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, she worked at Litchfield County National Bank and Colonial Bank.
She married the love of her life, John, on Aug. 16, 1969, and they lived on Sharon Mountain for more than 50 years.
Shirley enjoyed creating the annual family Christmas card, which was a coveted keepsake.She also enjoyed having lunch once a month with her best friends, Betty Kowalski, Kathy Ducillo, and Paula Weir.
In addition to John, she is survived by her three children and their families; Sarah Medeiros, her husband, Geoff, and their sons, Nick and Andrew, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Shelby Diorio, her husband, Mike, and their daughters, Addie, Lainey and Lyla, of East Canaan, Connecticut,Jeffrey Perotti, his wife, Melissa, and their daughters, Annie, Lucy and Winnie, of East Canaan. Shirley also leaves her two brothers, Edward Wilbur and his wife Joan, and David Wilbur; two nieces, three nephews, and several cousins.
At Shirley’s request, services will be private.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Sharon Woman’s Club Scholarship Fund, PO Box 283, Sharon, CT 06069.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
MILLERTON — Veronica Lee “Ronnie” Silvernale, 78, a lifelong area resident died Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut. Mrs. Silvernale had a long career at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, where she served as a respected team leader in housekeeping and laundry services for over eighteen years. She retired in 2012.
Born Oct. 19, 1946, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Bradley C. and Sophie (Debrew) Hosier, Sr. Following her graduation from high school and attending college, she married Jack Gerard Silvernale on June 15, 1983 in Millerton, New York. Their marriage lasted thirty-five years until Jack’s passing on July 28, 2018.
Ronnie is survived by her daughter, Jaime Silvernale (Wm. MacDaniel, Sr.) of Millerton, her beloved grandson, Wm. MacDaniel, Jr.; two special nieces, Shannon and Rebecca and a special nephew Sean Hosier. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her brother, Bradley C. Hosier, Jr. and her dear friend Ruth Fullerton of Millerton.
Visitation was private. A celebration of Ronnie’s life will be held in the future. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence to the family or to plant a tree in Ronnie’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s artistic director, is delighted to announce the start of this musical organization’s 22nd year of operation. The group’s first concert of the season will feature Latin American early chamber music, performed Oct. 18 and 19, on indigenous Andean instruments as well as the virginal, flute, viola and percussion. Gevert will perform at the keyboard, joined by Chilean musicians Gonzalo Cortes and Carlos Boltes on wind and stringed instruments.
This concert, the first in a series of nine, will be held on Oct. 18 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and Oct. 19 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.
For those unfamiliar with Crescendo, the award-winning organization was founded in 2003 and brings lesser-known works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods — along with contemporary fusion pieces — to new life. Its performances often blend classical composition with nontraditional instrumentation for a refreshing new take on an established body of work.
Gevert, who is German, Chilean and American, is a conductor, keyboardist and musical scholar. As the multi-national, multi-lingual (German, Spanish and English) creative director, she is a veritable whirlwind of talent, professionalism and inspiration who conceives of new musical treats for her audiences. She also hires and nourishes local talent, sources internationally known vocal and instrumental professionals, and provides her audiences with well-researched program notes for each concert, packaged in lush, full-color programs that resemble illuminated manuscripts.
“It is the excitement about and dedication to the music, along with the prerequisite vocal and instrumental talent, that characterizes a Crescendo member,” said Gevert. “I don’t care about things like how old or young you are or where you’re from — it’s all about bringing these performers together to provide unforgettable musical experiences for its audiences.”
“Traditional audiences for classical music performances tend to skew older,” Gevert continued. “For that reason, I’ve embarked on an effort to reach younger listeners, and have done things like taken a Crescendo choral group to perform at Housatonic Regional High School. I’ve also launched an effort to recruit and train young singers in Baroque singing techniques so they can perform with our existing choral group.”
The upcoming 2025-26 season includes, among other performances, a solo recital and benefit concert on Nov. 22 by the international Baroque opera star and countertenor Nicholas Tamagna. The curated program will include works by Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi.
Two dazzling Christmas concerts follow: on Dec. 6 and 7, Crescendo presents J.S. Bach’s “Sweet Comfort” cantata and Mass in G minor, featuring the full chorus and soloists with a period instrument orchestra. On Dec. 21, the annual Holiday Concert will be presented: “A Tapestry of Traditions: Unraveling the History of Christmas Carols,” with the entire Crescendo vocal ensemble and Gevert on organ.
For the full schedule, concerts details and ticket information, visit: www.crescendomusic.org