Week of August 10, 2008

Invasion New York

It's not your typical type of tourism.

But plants and insects end up paying unintended visits to New York City just like any other traveler.

There's one difference, though: These pesky species end up staying.

Grounding their roots, literally, in our soil, invasive species come from far and wide, via barge or souvenir-stuffed suitcases, in what horticulturists and biologists across the city call a serious threat to our habitat. Deceiving to the common eye, these foreign born pests and plants raise significant challenges for the city's Department of Parks and Recreation: monitoring, controlling and even eradicating top the list.

Though the city welcomes visitors from far and ride (foreign tourism, according to the Bloomberg administration, is what is fueling our economy right now), advocates and the parks department have another message for the relentless Asian Longhorned Beetle or the slimy, practically amphibious Snakehead Fish. Article

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NH looks to stem migration of pepperweed

By Angeljean Chiaramida, Eagle-Tribune staff writer


SEABROOK — Fearing an invasion of pepperweed in proportion to its spread on Plum Island and the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, New Hampshire environmental agencies are now working to prevent the invasive species before it takes hold in Granite State salt marshes.

Scientist worry that, if it goes uncontrolled, it could threaten the plant and animal species that make up the entire Great Marsh ecosystem.

"The reason we're concerned about this plant in particular is because, since its introduction to California in the 1930s, it has spread throughout most of the western states," said Catherine Foley of New Hampshire Costal Program, a division of the state Department of Environmental Services. "It is able to spread quickly due to its extensive root system and live in a wide range of habitats. Once pepperweed becomes established, it forms dense stands where nothing else is able to grow. These stands provide a very poor habitat to native species, especially water fowl."

If New Hampshire can stop pepperweed from becoming entrenched in its salt marsh, environmental experts believe it may stop it from spreading north into Maine.

The use of volunteers is pivotal in the state's early detection and rapid response program... The state is recruiting and training volunteers to map, monitor and pull pepperweed if found in the salt marsh along New Hampshire's coastline.

Volunteers are trained then go out in the field looking for pepperweed, reporting back, and mapping the infected areas. When found, pepperweed populations are hand-pulled by volunteers and monitored both before and after eradication.

For more information on pepperweed, the state's programs or to volunteer, contact Foley at 50 International Drive, Suite 200, Portsmouth, NH 03801, 603-559-0028 or Catherine.Foley@des.nh.gov.

Article

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New National Invasive Species Management Plan

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne convened the National Invasive Species Council (NISC), on August 1, to oversee the adoption of the new 2008-2012 National Invasive Species Management Plan. The plan was developed collaboratively with 13 federal departments and agencies and their partners.

Federal expenditures on invasive species are estimated to exceed $1.3 billion annually. The plan is the culmination of an extensive process of expert review, and public comment. It can be found on http://www.doi.gov/news/08_News_Releases/2008-2012NationalInvasiveSpeciesManagementPlan.pdf

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Maine DEP removes Eurasian milfoil from Salmon Lake

BY AMY CALDER, staff writer, Morning Sentinal

NORTH BELGRADE -- Divers on Friday scoured the bottom of Salmon Lake, yanking a new and aggressive, invasive-plant species from a cove off Route 8.

In just more than two hours Friday morning, they had bagged more than 70 Eurasian milfoil plants and were expecting to spend the day collecting more.

Since the species was discovered in the lake Aug. 1, the state has launched an ambitious program to find and eradicate it.

"It's the pit bull of milfoil," said Paul Gregory, with the state Department of Environmental Protection, which was conducting Friday's eradication.

Gregory was one of four people working in a driving rain and stubborn wind to eradicate the Eurasian milfoil, which has been found only at one other site in Maine -- a Scarborough gravel pit.

Of 5,700 ponds and lakes in Maine, only 29 contain an invasive, aquatic-plant species, but the Eurasian milfoil is of particular concern because it is more aggressive than other species such as the variable-leaf milfoil found in Messalonskee Lake.

DEP biologist John McPhedran and Denise Blanchette, a diver contracting with DEP, pulled Eurasian milfoil plants and their root balls from Salmon Lake Friday, placed them in netted bags and sent them to the surface. Gregory and DEP biologist Ray Bouchard hauled the bags into boats.

"It sounds primitive, but hand removal is a very effective method," Gregory said. "We're going to give it our best." The milfoil collected Friday would likely be composted, he said.

Milfoil, when identified, must be eradicated quickly to prevent infestation, said Gregory. "Speed is of the essence," he said. Article

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Water Chestnuts taking over New York creek

WIVB-TV News4 Buffalo, New York

TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) - Fish and Wildlife experts are gearing up for an all out assault on Tonawanda Creek this weekend.

News 4's George Richert shows the invader these experts hope to wipe out before too much damage is done.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service discovered them a couple months ago on a routine fish survey.
Water Chestnuts starting to take over one stretch of Tonawanda Creek near Ellicott Creek Island.

Michael Goehle from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said, "We started what's called a Rapid Response. We quickly notified the local agencies, Erie County Parks and they've all been very supportive in our plans to go in and try to hand pull the water chestnuts." Article

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Long Pond Greenbelt, New York, gets funding for invasive species battle

Andrea Autichio, Hamptons.com

Southampton, NY - An on-going effort to restore the natural habitat in a portion of what is considered by some to be one of the state’s finest nature preserves has been moving ahead rapidly this year thanks to a private grant given to the Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt by the Brine Family Charitable Trust.

The $40,000 grant has enabled the volunteers to hire professionals to clear the 35-acre former Bridgehampton vineyard, part of the 600-acre greenbelt, to prevent an invasive species of shrubbery known as “autumn olive” from overtaking the landscape and destroying its ecological balance.

“It just grows everywhere,” Dai Dayton, a member of the Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt said. “We have been making great progress this year,” Dayton noted as she addressed the Southampton Town Trustees at their regular meeting this month.

Thanks to the grant, the Friends of the Greenbelt were able to clear 20 acres on the former vineyard this year alone, compared to the slow going clearing campaign of the first 10-acre portion that fronts the Bridgehampton-Sagg Turnpike which took the last few years to complete by volunteers.

Dayton was flanked on either side by Sandra Ferguson, President of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Long Pond Bond Greenbelt and by Priscilla Ciccariello, another founding member of the volunteer organization that works to preserve the Greenbelt, an extensive natural habitat that runs from the shores of Sag Harbor Cove to the Atlantic Ocean. Article

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Basilisk lizard in Cape Coral raises invasive concern

By Brian Liberatore, The News-Press

When a Cape Coral woman spotted a 2 1/2-foot brown lizard clinging to her pool screen, her first thought was, "it doesn't belong here."

I guessed it was somebody's pet that got freed," said Carol Peppers. "All I know is it doesn't belong here."

According to local experts, Peppers is probably right.

Peppers' visitor is known as a Jesus lizard for its ability to run across the surface of still bodies of water. It likely found itself in Cape Coral, experts agree, after a negligent pet owner let it loose.

A small population of the brown basilisks, new to Cape Coral, joins a growing list of non-native species invading local ecosystems, and making problems for wildlife authorities who seem helpless to control them. Cape's City Council wants state officials to act, from reclassifying the species to forcing owners to register them. Article

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Saratoga Lake's milfoil curbed

By LEIGH HORNBECK, TimesUnion.com

STILLWATER, NY -- Eurasian milfoil, an invasive plant that creates a nuisance for boaters and swimmers, is almost under control in Saratoga Lake, according to the Saratoga Lake Protection and Improvement District.

The district, which is supported by 1,400 taxpayers who live around the lake, paid for an application of a herbicide to kill the weeds. Last year the chemicals were used on the south end of the lake and in May the district moved to the east side. The cost of the project is $550,000 so far.

This year the district switched from the Sonar brand of herbicide to Renovate, a chemical that needs only three days of contact with the weed to work, rather than 30 days, said lake administrator Dean Long, the director of Environmental Planning for the LA Group in Saratoga Springs.

"It killed the milfoil on the east side or stressed it to the point its growth was slowed down and it is 80 to 90 percent under control," Long said.

In 2009, the district will complete the application cycle on the west side of the lake. Article

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Small snail may pose threat to Great Lakes' ecosystem

The Windsor Star

A small but potentially dangerous snail has been spotted in all but one of the Great Lakes.

The New Zealand mud snail, which was first identified as an invasive species in the Great Lakes in 1991, has some academics wondering if the spread will wreak havoc with the delicate ecosystem.

Edward Levri, a biology professor at Penn State's Altoona campus, presented his research on the tiny mollusk at the Ecological Society of America's annual conference in Milwaukee.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the tiny snail has been documented in Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and Lake Superior. Now the Penn State researchers have reported the species in Lake Michigan, and the waters flowing from Lake Ontario. Article

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Week of June 22

Officials Unsure What Is Causing Absence Of Weeds

By Patrick Fanelli pfanelli@post-journal.com

Nobody knows why, but there is something conspicuously absent from the waters of Chautauqua Lake, New York.

Drive past places like Burtis Bay, and the red tint and still water that is normally a symptom of the lake’s Eurasian milfoil epidemic are gone. So, too, are the weed clippings that clog up the shoreline.

For the past few years, the invasive weeds were in full bloom by this time of the year. While one can’t say for sure what is hindering weed growth all over Chautauqua Lake, county lake officials only hope it stays this way into the busy summer season.

‘‘The weeds, I’m guessing, are probably two weeks behind, and that’s a good thing,’’ said Bill Evans, Chautauqua Lake Management Commission chairman. ‘‘So something is going on. As a matter of fact, we’ve been having quite a bit of discussions about it.’’

While Evans jokes about how tempting it is to credit the efforts of the variety of lake organizations that comprise the CLMC, he believes Mother Nature deserves the credit.‘‘Mother Nature has certainly been good to us so far,’’ said Evans, who owns a lakeside home on Summit Street in Lakewood. ‘‘It’s not hard to see. (The weeds) are not nearly as high as they should be as we approach the end of June.’’

In recent years, relatively warm winters resulted in an ice cover that was unusually thin and broke an abnormally high number of times, allowing a greater amount of sunshine into the water — and this was sometimes blamed for the explosive growth in 2006 and 2007. While no one can say for sure whether this really was one of the causes, an inadequate ice cover wasn’t a factor this past winter.

‘‘That deterred the weeds somewhat, but then when it got warm in April, I got nervous,’’ said Karen Rine, who heads the Chautauqua Lake Partnership, a group that advocates for the spraying of herbicides in certain parts of the lake to hinder weed growth.

For the most part, though, the weeds still haven’t grown to the surface of the water. ‘‘I really don’t know why, because the conditions were optimum in the spring — but there was an awful lot of wave action on the lake. That’s my take,’’ said Mrs. Rine, who lives along the shore of Burtis Bay in Celoron.

While the region may have enjoyed some pleasant days this past spring, temperatures across the board were lower than normal, says Evans — a factor that may also have contributed to the slow weed growth.In addition, Robert Johnson — who manages Cornell University’s Research Ponds Facility and studies Chautauqua Lake’s weed infestation — is exploring the possibility that weed-eating insects are slowing down the weed growth, according to CLMC officials. Article

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Invasion of alien snails: what to do about them

MyrtleBeachOnline.com

The gummy-looking, droplet- like clusters of pink eggs that clung to the bank of the pond appeared harmless enough, but S.C. nature officials are worried the snails that hatch from those eggs could pose a health risk and cause widespread ecologi cal damage.

The island apple snail has been found for the first time in South Carolina in about a dozen ponds in the Laurel Woods subdivision and the Heron Point Golf Club off S.C. 707.

Now, offi cials are trying to eradicate them before they spread to the Waccamaw River, which would make containment efforts much harder.

"Ideally, they would be exterminated," said David Knott, a marine biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. "If it's feasible, and we can do it without causing environmental damage, that's what we'd like to do.''

The snail could eat just about all the plants in a pond, and displace and even feed on native snail populations, Knott said.

The snail also carries a parasite that could cause fatal menin gitis and can transfer to people if it is handled without gloves, although Knott said he was unaware of a case in the U.S.

The island apple snail, indi genous to South America, is one of several apple snail species. Of greater concern to biologists is the channeled apple snail, which can devour rice and taro crops and is the 73rd worst invasive species in the world, according to the Global Invasive Species Database.

The channeled apple snail has been found in Arizona, California, Hawaii and maybe Alabama, according to a DNR press release.

The island apple snail as been introduced in Texas, Florida and Georgia, the press release said.
The island apple snail cannot survive for long in water below 50 degrees, but it can burrow into the ground if the temperatures drop. Overall, South Carolina appears to be just warm enough for the snails, Knott said.

To get rid of the snail, the DNR is spraying copper sulfate, a federally approved pesticide, in the infested ponds. The blue, granular substance will also kill algae but should not have any other detrimental effects.

Michael Hook, a field supervisor with the DNR's aquatic nuisance species program, said he sprays about 10 feet from the edge of the pond, where most of the snails live. The DNR plans to treat the infested ponds once a month throughout the summer, he said.

SC Dept. of Natural Resources. (803) 734-9100 Article

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