Ludwigia at Artist Lake

By Bill Jacobs, LIISMA Program Manager

In late October, Region 1 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) fisheries staff member Francis McParland discovered an infestation of creeping water primrose (Ludwigia peploides) at Artist Lake in Middle Island. This was confirmed by Ashley Morris, NYSDEC Region 1 aquatic invasive species coordinator. Ludwigia is a highly invasive species with a tier 3 ranking in the LIISMA region, with a management goal of containment where it is found. 

NYSDEC quickly notified town officials, owners of the property, and LIISMA. The town obtained permits to manually remove the infestation, following a strategy known as early detection and rapid response (EDRR). 

Heidi O’Riordan, NYSDEC Regional Fisheries Manager, coordinated the control effort with Luke Ormand, Peter Fountaine, and other staff from the town, in partnership with LIISMA’s Abby Bezrutczyk, Haley Abby Bezrutczyk, and Bill Jacobs. 

Artist Lake is located within the Carmans River watershed, less than three quarters of a mile from the river. The lake is home to several state rare plant species such as Carey’s smartweed (Persicaria careyi), and narrow-leaved pinweed (Lechea tenuifolia) which live along the shoreline, where the ludwigia is invading. Sadly, ludwigia has infested stretches of the nearby Peconic River since 2003, seriously impacting recreation and harming the health of the ecosystem. Because of this, NYSDEC is leading an effort to control ludwigia in the Peconic River.  As part of the waterbody prioritization created by the Long Island Metro Aquatic Task Force (LIM-AIS), LIISMA staff recently surveyed sections of another scenic and recreational river, the Carmans River, and found no ludwigia present. Ensuring that ludwigia is contained and hopefully eradicated from Artist Lake is a high priority to prevent it from spreading into the Carmans River and other nearby waterbodies. 

On December 17, staff from NYSDEC, the Town of Brookhaven, and LIISMA converged on the infestation at Artist Lake to pull it manually, using hand shovels occasionally as needed. A sediment barrier was placed around the infestation before work started. Since ludwigia can propagate through pieces of stems and through its numerous seeds, this barrier helps to catch any of these prolific plant parts that might have been disturbed or broken in the removal process. LIISMA and our partners will return early next year to continue to remove any ludwigia that grows back. Repeated hand removal may take a few years to ensure this invasive is eradicated from the site, but many hands make light work!

Ludwigia can unknowingly be transported by recreational users and waterfowl from waterbody to waterbody. Recreationists should clean off any visible plants, animals, and mud from boats, trailers, clothing, and equipment before and after going into a body of water.

To protect Long Island’s waterbodies, it is critically important that new infestations of aquatic invasive species are found early and rapidly controlled. LIISMA staff will continue to monitor the Carmans River and Artist Lake annually to detect any new infestations before they become established. As always, if you believe you’ve detected an aquatic invasive species, you can report it through iMapInvasives, on iNaturalist, or by contacting LIISMA.