Conservation Areas
Kassidy Robinson
Field work heated up this August for the LIISMA team as they practiced weed torching with the Sisters of Saint Joseph’s stewardship team. Equipped with propane torches and necessary safety equipment, the team walked the trails one rainy morning and targeted stiltgrass to get a feel for torching techniques while helping our partners manage the annual invasive grass, stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum), for which torching is particularly effective.
Torching is effective and safe when there is abundant moisture, and a brief flame is applied to target plants that causes them to wilt due to water in and on the plant essentially boiling and killing growth. The team looks forward to opportunities for implementing weed torches to target emerging invasive species and protect priority conservation areas in LIISMA.
To learn more about weed torching, view this CAES resource and this LIISMA weed torching workshop demonstration.
For the second time this season, the LIISMA team headed to Artist Lake and teamed up with partners, this time Town of Brookhaven Staff Amanda and Nicole, to address ludwigia (Ludwigia peploides), or floating water primrose. After kayaking the lake and inspecting shorelines, the team only uncovered and removed two ludwigia, bringing the total for the season to only 52 plants! The team is pleased to see a sharp decline in total ludwigia from 2024 from 660 to just 52 (that’s an over 90% decline!). This is a great step in protecting the nearby Carmans River and other waterbodies from the negative impacts of ludwigia.
LIISMA teamed up with NYSDEC staff Julie, Libby, and Lauren at Calverton Ponds to initiate a new phragmites management project and continue management at Linus and Sandy Ponds, respectively. Together, the team spaded phragmites by inserting a shovel at the base of the plants at a 45-degree angle to cut off the stems from their rhizomes. The group spaded and cut 390 stems at Linus Pond and 1000 stems at Sandy Pond to suppress phragmites in these emerging stands and prevent expansion to protect these highly biodiverse coastal plain ponds.
Lastly, to increase understanding of invasive species prevention in our Invasive Species Prevention Zones (ISPZs), the LIISMA team visited the Rocky Point Natural Resource Management Area and conducted a terrestrial survey. The team traversed about 2.25 miles of trail and noted native and invasive species presence to assess ecological health. While the trailhead area and exterior areas of the preserve were affected by invasive species, the interior was relatively unaffected with the exception of a few sparse individuals. Rocky Point was notably affected by invasive shrubs, including linden viburnum (Viburnum dilitatum) and toringo crabapple (Malus sieboldii), among other shrubs and herbaceous invasive plants.
Does a terrestrial survey sound like your idea of fun? Check out the LIISMA Invasive Species Spotters program to learn how to survey for invasive species on any nature walk or hike and assist professionals in protecting biodiversity.
LIISMA would like to thank all of our partners for collaborating with us on these important projects!
Early Detection and Rapid Response
Abby Marino
August was a full month for the early detection and rapid response program at LIISMA, with new opportunities with partners and new species detected. Thanks to observations that readers like you posted on iNaturalist and iMapInvasives, the LIISMA team was able to survey and begin coordinating management for several important species.
The team started the month by connecting with NYC Parks partners at Alley Pond Park. There, Melody trained NYC Parks interns to use iMapInvasives in Survey123 to record invasive species like cinnamon vine (Dioscorea polystachya). The team also followed up on a recent observation of chaff flower (Achyranthes japonica) and collected it for pressing, marking the second observation of this species in New York. Thank you to NYC Parks for your collaboration!
Later in the month, the LIISMA team took a trip to Staten Island to follow up on iNaturalist observations of several different emerging invasive species, including small carpet grass (Arthraxon hispidus), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), christmas berry (Pourthiaea villosa), and fuzzy deutzia (Deutzia spp.). Traveling to several sites, the team was able to confirm some observations, including small carpet grass alongside a trail and christmas berry in a forest understory, but did not encounter fuzzy deutzia or water lettuce. We look forward to collaborating with land managers in controlling priority species at these sites.
Next, the team turned its attention to aquatic invasive species. While water lettuce has been identified in Argyle Lake Park in Babylon, the team did not find water lettuce previously seen in Forest City Community Park in Bellmore. On the same token, the team also did not find water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes) that was reported in Byron Lake Park. These patterns may be due to low water levels, or cold microclimates, that prevented the plants’ regrowth. Given a trend of warmer winters with climate change, the team will continue to follow up on these observations with a goal of rapid response. We appreciate the collaboration with the Town of Hempstead and Village of Babylon in looking for and managing water lettuce.
Finishing off our month was the start of monitoring for kudzu (Pueraria montana) at several locations, in partnership with the NYSDEC. This month, the team checked eight locations off our list, spanning from Cutchogue to Staten Island, and managed it at two sites by removing the root crowns. Thankfully, they did not find any kudzu at several sites where it was previously (and successfully) managed.
Lastly, we’d like to thank our EDRR intern Emma Diaz for her great work this summer! Her work was invaluable in advancing many EDRR projects, from communicating with partners, to writing articles, to documenting observations in the field. She was a joy to have on the LIISMA team; we will miss her, and we wish her the best in her future endeavors.
