Welcome to the Eastern Lake Ontario Swallow-wort Collaborative (ELOSC). The ELOSC serves as a platform where different stakeholder groups can share research and best management practices to enhance the management and spread prevention of swallow-wort. The ELOSC fosters greater cooperation and collaboration between different stakeholder groups to enhance the transfer of knowledge between researchers and stakeholders.
Species Overview
Black and pale swallow-worts (Vincetoxicum nigrum, Vincetoxicum rossicum ), also known as “dog-strangling vines,” are perennial, herbaceous vines that grow from 2 to 6 1/2 ft in length.
Black swallow-wort is native to Europe near the Mediterranean Sea, while pale swallow-wort is native to Ukraine and parts of Russia. Although swallowwort isn’t highly valued as a horticultural specimen, it escaped cultivation in the 1800s.
Biocontrol Monitoring
SLELO PRISM, together with regional partners, has played a key role in monitoring swallow-wort biocontrol. Over multiple years, the team established and monitored caged Hypena opulenta releases in our region to evaluate establishment, emergence, and feeding impact.
Webinar Recordings and Resources
Biocontrol Resources:
- Biology of Invasive Plants: Vincetoxicum Research
- Swallow-Wort Best Management Practices_NAISMA Cornell
- NAISMA Swallow-worts History and Ecology in North America
- Practical Guide to Releasing and Monitoring Hypena opulenta, a Swallow-wort Biocontrol
- NAISMA Hypena Opulenta Fact Sheet
- University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Biocontrol Fact Sheet
- Pale and Black Swallow-wort Best Management Practices
- Black Swallow-wort Fact Sheet from Plant Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group
- Black Swallow-wort Fact Sheet on Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States
- Field Guide for the Biocontrol of Weeds-USDA
Research:
- Biology of Invasive Plants 3. Vincetoxicum
nigrum (L.) Moench and Vincetoxicum rossicum
(Kleopow) Barbarich_ Lindsey Milbrath, et. al. 2023 - Response of black swallowwort (Vincetoxicum
nigrum) to herbicides plus mowing_ Lindsey Milbrath, et. al. 2022 - Seed characteristics of the invasive alien vine Vincetoxicum rossicum are affected by site, harvest date, and storage duration – Antonio DiTommaso, Daniel C. Brainard, and Bradley R. Webster
- Pale Swallowwort (Vincetoxicum rossicum) Response to Cutting and Herbicides – Antonio DiTommaso, Lindsey R. Milbrath, Todd Bittner, and F. Robert Wesley
- Response of the Invasive Vine Pale Swallow-wort Following Two Years of Mowing and Herbicide Application – A. DiTomasso, L.R. Milbrath, and T. Bittner, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- The Biology of Invasive Alien Plants in Canada – Antonio DiTommaso, Frances M. Lawlor, and Stephen J. Darbyshire
- Growth and reproductive potential of the invasive exotic vine Vincetoxicum rossicum in northern New York State – Larissa L. Smith, Antonio DiTommaso, Johannes Lehmann, and Sigurdur Greipsson
- Responses of Pale Swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum rossicum) to Triclopyr Application and Clipping – Kristine M. Averill, Antonio DiTommaso, and Scott H. Morris
- Invasive Non-native Plants Alter the Occurrence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Benefit from This Association – Sigurdur Greipsson and Antonio DiTommaso
- Survival and Performance of the Invasive Vine Vincetoxicum Rossicum (Apocynaceae) from Seeds of Different Embryo Number Under Two Light Environments – Emily E. Hotchkiss, Antonio DiTommaso, Daniel C. Brainard, and Charles L. Mohler
- Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on the Exotic Invasive Vine Pale Swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum rossicum) – Larissa L. Smith, Antonio DiTommaso, Johannes Lehmann, and Sigurdur Greipsson
- Rethinking Invasion Impacts across Multiple Field Sites Using European Swallowwort (Vincetoxicum rossicum) as a Model Invader – Grant L. Thompson, Terrence H. Bell, and Jenny Kao-Kniffin
- Phytophagous Arthropods of Invasive Swallow-Wort Vines (Vincetoxicum spp.) in New York – Lindsey R. Milbrath
- Performance of potential European biological control agents of Vincetoxicum spp. with notes on their distribution – A. S. Weed, A. Gassmann, A. M. Leroux, and R. A. Casagrande
- Host Specificity of Hypena opulenta: A Potential Biological Control Agent of Vincetoxicum in North America – Alex F. Hazlehurst, Aaron S. Weed, Lisa Tewksbury, and Richard A. Casagrande
- Phytotoxicity and Potential Allelopathy in Pale (Cynanchum rossicum) and Black swallowwort (C. nigrum) – Cameron H. Douglass, Leslie A. Weston, and David Wolfe
- Reproductive life-history traits of the classical biological control agent Hypena opulenta: Using agent biology to support post release monitoring and establishment – M. Lukas Seehausen, Carla Timm, Ian M. Jones, Robert S. Bourchier, Sandy M. Smith
- Establishment of Hypena opulenta (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) on Vincetoxicum rossicum in Ontario, Canada – Robert S. Bourchier, Naomi Cappuccino, Alicia Rochette, Jim des Rivières, Sandy M. Smith, Lisa Tewksbury, and Richard Casagrande
ELOSC Supporting Partners
The ELOSC was developed in collaboration with the partners listed below. Supporting partners provide research updates, resources, and other information to enhance communication and collaboration among stakeholders. To become a supporting partner, please reach out to Robert.l.Smith@tnc.org.
