STERLING - Exotic invasive water weeds and other invasive organisms have slowly filtered into New York waterways over the past decade, clogging waterways and changing the ecological balance. In response, Weeds Watch Out!, an education outreach program, is now available for the public concerned about these waters in the Oswego River Basin.
Renee Jensen, community environmental educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension, presented “Learn to Identify and Control Invasive Water Weeds,” Saturday afternoon at the Sterling Nature Center. The event was attended by an enthusiastic handful of people; Kathryn Whitehorne, of Aurelius; Jim Beardsley, of Red Creek; and Shirley Ryan, of Auburn.
“There are good aquatic plants that provide a habitat,” Jensen said, “but the invasive ones give them a bad name.” The Cooperative Extension now has a free, invasive weed identification guide with pictures of “bad” weeds and look-alike “good” ones. Identification of the invasive plants is the first step their eradication.
Jensen discussed invasive weeds not native to Cayuga County water bodies: water chestnut, Eurasian watermilfoil, curly leaved pond weed, and frogbit, a new one found in Sterling Creek.
These invaders are typically transported to central New York waters by boaters who have picked them up elsewhere on propellers and other boat parts. Some of them, however, got here in unusual ways.
The Eurasian watermilfoil is believed to have come to this country as packaging for fish bait in the 1940s, Jensen said. It reproduced by seed and fragments that grew into plants.
The water chestnut, native to Asia, was brought here for food and medicinal use, but ended up as an ornamental plant in water gardens, transported to other areas by waterfowl.
Hydrilla, an underwater plant often used to decorate aquariums, is often carelessly tossed out when the aquarium is no longer wanted and ends up invading lakes or streams.
Jensen stressed prevention as the best way to keep maverick plants at bay. Education, boat cleaning, early detection, rapid response, weed watching, and rapid treatment were the best ways to keep them from spreading. Getting rid of them is not easy.
Mechanical and physical means, such as a weed harvester and hand pulling are often used. The weed harvester is costly and only provides quick gratification, while hand pulling is labor intensive and time consuming, with care needed not to break off fragments that can grow into new plants. Vacuum dredging, sucking up the plants into a giant vacuum, is another method.
Jensen said Cayuga County Soil and Water District uses its weed harvester twice a year on all water bodies in the county.
Another way to get rid of invasive species is to put a Benthic barrier mat in place on the floor of the body of water. This method requires a Department of Environmental Conservation permit and kills native species along with the exotic species by covering them to keep out sunlight. It also destroys some fish spawning sites.
Chemical treatment, such as pesticides, requires the help of a certified pesticide applicator, a person certified by the DEC.
“You can't always use an herbicide on aquatics,” Jim D'Angelo, naturalist and director of Sterling Nature Center, said.
D'Angelo said his war on water chestnuts began three years ago, when he was walking along the beach and found some nutlets from the plant.
“I was concerned that wave action was washing them in here,” D'Angelo said, but later he noticed the plants growing in Sterling Creek and pulled them by hand, filling up the canoe.
A “friends” group has been helping out by volunteering to pull plants by hand. They want to clear out the upstream area as much as possible. They've collected 16 to 20 garbage bags full a year. Size and numbers of these plants have decreased over the past two years, D'Angelo said.
Biological control is another way to attack the plants. A weevil was introduced to get rid of Northern milfoil by having its larvae feed on the leaves. An aquatic moth is being used against Eurasian milfoil on Cayuga Lake. A beetle that feeds on water chestnuts is being experimented with at Cornell.
Skaneateles has used a combination of methods to eradicate Eurasian milfoil: vacuum dredging, the Benthic barrier, and the aquatic moth, Jensen said.
In an effort to get more public involvement in keeping waterways free of these invaders, the Cornell Cooperative Extension is organizing an “Adopt a Shoreline” program, offering volunteers workshops and training on how to control invasive water weeds. After intensive training, they will adopt and monitor an area for any invasive species, watching out and reporting.
Questions may be directed to Renee Jensen at Cornell Cooperative Extension, and copies of the “Invasive Weed Identification Guide” are available there and at the Sterling Nature Center.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran may be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
“There are good aquatic plants that provide a habitat,” Jensen said, “but the invasive ones give them a bad name.” The Cooperative Extension now has a free, invasive weed identification guide with pictures of “bad” weeds and look-alike “good” ones. Identification of the invasive plants is the first step their eradication.
Jensen discussed invasive weeds not native to Cayuga County water bodies: water chestnut, Eurasian watermilfoil, curly leaved pond weed, and frogbit, a new one found in Sterling Creek.
These invaders are typically transported to central New York waters by boaters who have picked them up elsewhere on propellers and other boat parts. Some of them, however, got here in unusual ways.
The Eurasian watermilfoil is believed to have come to this country as packaging for fish bait in the 1940s, Jensen said. It reproduced by seed and fragments that grew into plants.
The water chestnut, native to Asia, was brought here for food and medicinal use, but ended up as an ornamental plant in water gardens, transported to other areas by waterfowl.
Hydrilla, an underwater plant often used to decorate aquariums, is often carelessly tossed out when the aquarium is no longer wanted and ends up invading lakes or streams.
Jensen stressed prevention as the best way to keep maverick plants at bay. Education, boat cleaning, early detection, rapid response, weed watching, and rapid treatment were the best ways to keep them from spreading. Getting rid of them is not easy.
Mechanical and physical means, such as a weed harvester and hand pulling are often used. The weed harvester is costly and only provides quick gratification, while hand pulling is labor intensive and time consuming, with care needed not to break off fragments that can grow into new plants. Vacuum dredging, sucking up the plants into a giant vacuum, is another method.
Jensen said Cayuga County Soil and Water District uses its weed harvester twice a year on all water bodies in the county.
Another way to get rid of invasive species is to put a Benthic barrier mat in place on the floor of the body of water. This method requires a Department of Environmental Conservation permit and kills native species along with the exotic species by covering them to keep out sunlight. It also destroys some fish spawning sites.
Chemical treatment, such as pesticides, requires the help of a certified pesticide applicator, a person certified by the DEC.
“You can't always use an herbicide on aquatics,” Jim D'Angelo, naturalist and director of Sterling Nature Center, said.
D'Angelo said his war on water chestnuts began three years ago, when he was walking along the beach and found some nutlets from the plant.
“I was concerned that wave action was washing them in here,” D'Angelo said, but later he noticed the plants growing in Sterling Creek and pulled them by hand, filling up the canoe.
A “friends” group has been helping out by volunteering to pull plants by hand. They want to clear out the upstream area as much as possible. They've collected 16 to 20 garbage bags full a year. Size and numbers of these plants have decreased over the past two years, D'Angelo said.
Biological control is another way to attack the plants. A weevil was introduced to get rid of Northern milfoil by having its larvae feed on the leaves. An aquatic moth is being used against Eurasian milfoil on Cayuga Lake. A beetle that feeds on water chestnuts is being experimented with at Cornell.
Skaneateles has used a combination of methods to eradicate Eurasian milfoil: vacuum dredging, the Benthic barrier, and the aquatic moth, Jensen said.
In an effort to get more public involvement in keeping waterways free of these invaders, the Cornell Cooperative Extension is organizing an “Adopt a Shoreline” program, offering volunteers workshops and training on how to control invasive water weeds. After intensive training, they will adopt and monitor an area for any invasive species, watching out and reporting.
Questions may be directed to Renee Jensen at Cornell Cooperative Extension, and copies of the “Invasive Weed Identification Guide” are available there and at the Sterling Nature Center.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran may be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
