Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) beloved and despised: A story of an invasive tree in Central Europe
Abstract
Robinia pseudoacacia, invaded many countries a long time ago and is now a common part of the Central European landscape. Positive economic but negative environmental impacts of Robinia result in conflicts of interest between nature conservation, forestry, urban landscaping, beekeepers and the public when defining management priorities.
Because current legislation will determine the future distribution of Robinia in the landscape, a comprehensive view of this species is necessary. Although this species is well studied, most of the scientific papers deal with the economic aspects.
Other information is published in local journals or reports. Therefore we reviewed the ecological and socio-economic impact of Robinia placing particular emphasis on the species' history, vegetation ecology, invasiveness and management.
In Central Europe, Robinia is limited climatically by late spring frost combined with a short vegetation period, soil hypoxia, shade and frequent major disturbances. The long historical tradition of using Robinia for afforestation has resulted in its popularity as a widespread forest tree and it being an important part of the economy in some countries.
The main reasons are its fast growth, valuable and resistant wood, suitability for amelioration, reclamation of disturbed sites and erosion control, honey-making and recently dendromass production. On the other hand, a side-effect of planting this nitrogen-fixing pioneer tree, very tolerant of the nature of the substrate, is its propagation and spread, which pose a problem for nature conservation.
Robinia is considered invasive, threatening especially dry and semi-dry grasslands, some of the most species-rich and endangered types of habitat in the region, causing extinction of many endangered light-demanding plants and invertebrates due to changes in light regime, microclimate and soil conditions.