Test of activated carbon to reduce the impact of Alliaria petiolata on growth of native tree seedlings

Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) is a biennial herb, which is native to Europe and has invaded many deciduous forest communities in the United States. Garlic Mustard has been previously shown to be allelopathic and possibly affect the mutualism between mycorrhizal fungus and plant root systems. This research hypothesized that Acer rubrum seedlings would do worse when grown in soils with a “legacy” of garlic mustard then in soils without garlic mustard and that activated carbon mixed within garlic mustard soils may help to remediate some of the allelopathic effects. The results showed that there was no significant difference in growth of Acer rubrum or Fragaria sp. and that there was higher soil fertility in the garlic mustard soils then in the no garlic mustard soils. These findings support the idea that the impact of garlic mustard’s allelopathic effect may be smaller than the previous research using green house trials has suggested. This smaller impact could possibly indicate that the allelochemicals garlic mustard emits are shortlived within the soil once the actual plant has been removed. My research also highlights the need for further research into garlic mustard’s potential to alter soil processes