From invasive plant surveying to water chestnut pulls, the field season gets into full swing in June at LIISMA.
We started the month with a return to a familiar site: Sears Bellows County Park. There, we began our third year of manually controlling a small stand of invasive phragmites (Phragmites australis) at the shoreline. Thanks to a wet spring, this year we were greeted with higher water levels than previous years–this meant we shifted our tactics to cut the phragmites stems underwater. We are happy to report that this population is slowly declining. With Melody’s dog Ziti helping in the removal effort, we gathered about 400 stems and protected the native vegetation on the shoreline.
In the depths of Queens, the LIISMA team surveyed for an emerging invasive shrub called sapphire berry (Symplocos paniculata). We mapped dense areas of this prolific shrub at Kissena Park and hope to work with partners to contain its spread to other natural areas.
June is a great month for removing water chestnut (Trapa natans)– getting to this aquatic invasive plant before it drops its seeds means that over years, the populations can be reduced. LIISMA enjoyed assisting the Region 1 Fisheries crew, led by Carlos Morantes-Ariza, to remove massive amounts–think 900 square meters worth–of water chestnut from Massapequa Creek. With volunteers grabbing, gathering, and transporting water chestnut, everyone had a role in making the effort as efficient as possible. To hear more about Carlos’s water chestnut removal endeavors, check out his presentation from the Resilient Long Island Symposium. Drag the slider below to view one day’s progress of water chestnut removal at Massapequa Lake!
Lastly, the team embarked on another day on the water at Artist Lake, where floating water primrose (Ludwigia peploides) management has been finding success since it was first detected there in 2021. With the NYSDEC Region 1 Fisheries team and partners Steve Pearson and Cathy McGlynn from NYSDEC in Albany, we scoured the shoreline for this aquatic invasive plant. Our crew was pleased to see that there was not as much of the invasive plant as in previous years–only 60 individuals–thanks to the team’s diligent manual removal. We will return later this season to pick up any plants that missed our detection. The best news is that success at Artist Lake protects the nearby Carmans River from this aquatic invader. Thanks as always to NYSDEC and the Town of Brookhaven for their partnership on this project!
