From emerging invasive species surveys to pulling aquatic plants, the LIISMA Team has been busy in the field at the peak of summer.
In late July, Abby and Kassidy took a tour of East Hampton at several different field sites. Standing in the summer rain, the team met Julie Sakellariadis of the East Hampton Garden Club, as well as botanist Steve Young, biologist Mike Bottini, and members of the East Hampton Planning Department. A rare orchid – the yellow fringed orchid (Platanthera ciliaris) – brought all these minds together, as the team brainstormed conservation strategies. Stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) grows nearby, and Julie and crew are keeping a close watch to protect the site. Abby and Kassidy rounded out the day by checking on the regulated ornamental grass miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis) that grows near Napeague State Park, and planned management at a site with small carpet grass (Arthraxon hispidus).
Later, the LIISMA team headed into the woods at Otis Pike State Forest. There, the team returned to prevent the spread of a pale-swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum rossicum) population into the forests and fields.
At the Edgewood Oak Brush Plains Preserve, the team followed up on reports of emerging invasive bog bulrush (Schoenoplectiella mucronata) and Christmas berry (Photinia villosia), but did not find either of these species at the site. Thanks to successful management by Nassau County Parks at Cammans Pond Preserve, the team did not find any giant reed (Arundo donax) on the pond’s shoreline at this month’s visit.
The team got their feet wet this month too. At Artist Lake, the team returned to monitor and control populations of floating water primrose (Ludwigia peploides). While the team found the plant in new shoreline locations, it was thankfully not observed in previously managed areas. Controlling this species at Artist Lake not only protects the rich biodiversity around the shore, but it also prevents its spread into the nearby Carmans River, where it has potential to impede fishing and recreation.
Working to protect the significant ecological communities of coastal plain ponds, the team managed small stands of phragmites at Sandy Pond, in Calverton Ponds Preserve, and Bellows Pond, in Sears Bellows County Park. Abby worked with Carlos Morantes Ariza and the NYSDEC Boat Stewards to remove phragmites stems from two populations at Sandy Pond, protecting rare plant life. The LIISMA team returned to Bellows Pond for the second visit of the season, this time removing about 500 phragmites stems from the picturesque shoreline.
We thank our partners for their help with this work, and look forward to even more projects in September and beyond.
