Impact
Left unchecked, old man's beard will smother and "suffocate" trees depriving them of light and killing them.
We've rescued a number of trees from old man's beard, but have been too late to save other trees.
Old man's beard was smothering these 20 year-old tītoki and miro trees in Prince of Wales Park. One year after killing the vine, the trees are starting to recover with some fresh growth at the bottom of the trees.
Other similar age trees in this area didn't survive.
Ngā kumikumi (Devon St Gully) was covered in old man's beard. This area is now under control.
There's no stopping vines when they get going. Here's one from Kiwifoot/Pukehīnau in Kelburn. The last photo is a couple of weeks after killing the vine.
Left unchecked, OMB will smother whole forests.
Old man’s beard has invaded this stand of kowhai at Moawhango near Whanganui
Photo: M.Matthewson
Old Man’s Beard Management in the Horizons Region, March 2020
Horizons Regional Council, Report No 20-32
This chart shows the impact of OMB on native species variety, abundance and age from 2 comparable reserves near Taihape.
On the left is the reserve with OMB, and on right is the one without.