Invasive Species in the Chattahoochee National Forest

The Chattahoochee-Ocoee National Forest is located primarily in northern Georgia, with a smaller location in central Georgia. Due to people bringing foreign plants into Georgia, there are now a multitude of invasive species within the national forest. Pine trees have been chosen to be grown for timber and planted all over the southeast; as such, the southern pine beetle (dendroctonus frontalis zimmermann) has spread throughout the national forest. Invasive plants included in the research were kudzu (pueraria montana var. lobata), chinese privet (ligustrum sinense), english ivy (hedera helix), and johnsongrass (sorghum halepense). The purpose of the project is to demonstrate which areas of the national forest are most in need of upkeep. By quantitively showing the areas most affected by southern pine beetles, and qualitatively the areas most affected my invasive plants, the most damaged sections of the national forest can be detected, and further investigation can be conducted. The USDA provided data on the level of infestation, on a county level, of the southern pine beetle. Using their model projection from the 2012 National Insect and Disease Risk Map, I compared it to inside the borders of the national forest to show a percent of the total amount of host trees, using county and national forest borders as the enumeration units. Location based data with the species of invasive plants were compared with a buffer of 10 miles around the national forest to create a map. It was found that some areas of the national forest were more infested with southern pine beetles than others, and it should give an opportunity for further field research