Download Recognizing Invasive Species in Western New York

Recognizing
Invasive Species in
Western New York
Stormwater Management
Reducing Pollution
Characteristics of Invasive Species
• Reproduce abundantly and (plants) by many means.
• Spread by wind, water, and/or animals,
people and machinery.
• Relatively immune to diseases, and predation
in new area.
• Tolerate wide range of habitat conditions.
• May hybridize with native counterparts and their genes
dominate.
• Alter soil and/or water chemistry: alter habitat.
Some Common Invasive Plants
“Canada” Thistle – photograph: along I 90
Controls for Canada Thistle
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Seeds viable for 20
years, roots regenerate
Repeat cutting to
exhaust root stock
Systemic herbicide
–
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Glyphosate
DO NOT COMPOST
Giant Hogweed
Grows up to 14' high.
Flower heads may be 2 ½ '
diameter.
Can produce 20,000 seeds from
a single flower head.
Sap can cause severe burns,
permanent scarring and
blindness in the presence of
sunlight and moisture.
Federally listed as a noxious
weed.
If you find this weed, call the
DEC hotline: (845) 256-3111
Avoid exposure.
Serious, long lasting burns
result from sap exposure.
Call DEC for assistance if
you find this plant present.
Japanese Knotweed
Highway Department worker looking for a culvert pipe...
Japanese Knotweed
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Ecological threat to
riparian areas & road ditches
Spreads quickly.
Forms dense thickets.
Excludes native vegetation.
Alters natural ecosystems. Winter season knotweed pictured .
Rapidly colonizes disturbed channel slopes,
gravel bars and islands.
Survives severe flood events/ice scour.
Populations are extremely persistent.
Roots can penetrate >10’.
Seeds are viable for many years.
Exposes soil to (dormant season) erosion.
Mowing or weed whacking will
spread the plant.
•
• Roots can go 16 feet deep:
may not be possible to remove by
digging.
• Do not attempt to compost.
• Glyphosate applied to the foliage is effective but follow
up treatments will be needed over one to two years
• Natural herbicides (e.g.horticultural vinegar) will not
work on knotweed as it only burns the foliage. To
effectively kill knotweed a systemic herbicide is needed
to target the roots.
Black Swallow Wort
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Outcompetes
native plants,
replaces plants with
habitat value.
Harms bird and
butterfly
populations.
Black Swallow Wort
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Systemic herbicide
applied to cut stems
is most effective
chemical control.
Mow to prevent seed
pod production.
Dig up roots before
seed pod production.
Seed pods
Mile-A-Minute Vine
Mile-A-Minute Vine
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Grows up to 6” daily.
Smothers other plants,
interferes with forest
regeneration.
Causes habitat
disturbances.
Mile-A-Minute Vine Controls
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Mow in May-June before
plants set seeds.
Pull by hand before plants
mature: stem barbs harden
as plants age.
Plants can be composted if no seeds are
present.
Even small green seeds will germinate.
Do not compost if seeds are present.
Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
Flowers have unpleasant odor.
Tree Of Heaven
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Wood is weak, coarse grained.
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Fast growing,
prolific seeding.
Creates dense
thickets.
Extensive root
systems buckle
sidewalks and
foundations.
Root chemicals
poison other plants.
Controls
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Pull seedlings.
Systemic
herbicides effective
if used when trees
are in full leaf.
Cutting is
ineffective unless
repeated until root
stock is exhausted.
Emerald Ash Borer
Adult is about ½ inch long
Attacks only ash trees.
Makes S-shaped tunnels beneath bark.
Leaves a “D” shaped exit hole in the spring.
Heavy woodpecker damage may indicate presence of
larvae.
Look for vertical splits in bark.
Tree may sprout suckers.
Causes crown die- back in 3-5 years.
Signs of
Emerald Ash
Borer presence
Vertical split in bark
suckers
Crown die-back
Call DEC at
1 (866) 640-0652
Asian Longhorned Beetle
Asian Longhorned Beetles attack hardwood trees.
Adult Asian longhorned beetles are most active during
the summer and early fall and can be seen on trees,
branches, walls, outdoor furniture, cars, and sidewalks
and caught in pool filters.
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Purchase firewood where you will burn it.
Report beetle signs.
Allow officials access to your property to perform
surveys.
Diversify the tree species
that you plant.
Beetles prefer to attack birches, Ohio buckeye,
elms, willows and maple species including box
elder, Norway, red, silver and sugar maples.
Control:
Purple Loosestrife
Invasive
Phragmites
Garlic Mustard
Eurasian
Honeysuckle
Buckthorn
Brown Marmorated
Stink Bug
Oriental
Bittersweet
Hemlock Wooly
Adelgid
(white material on
branches covers
eggs)
Aquatic Invasive Species:
Most Important Controls
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Inspect and clean boats and trailers before
and after visiting any water body.
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Drain any water from bilge, tanks, etc.
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Empty bait buckets on shore.
Hydrilla verticillata
Hydrilla verticillata
●
Dense mats shade native aquatic plants,
impair recreation, fishing, alter water
chemistry.
Reproduces
primarily from
tubers,
plant fragments,
and turions.
Hydrilla
Hydrilla can grow:
•
In almost any freshwater: springs, lakes, marshes,
ditches, rivers, tidal zones.
•
In a few inches of water, to water more than
20 feet deep.
•
In low nutrient or high nutrient conditions,
•
In 7% salinity of seawater (Haller 1974).
•
In only 1% of full sunlight.
•
Low light compensation and saturation points and low
CO2 compensation point make it a competitive plant
because it can start growing in low light before other
plants do (Van et al. 1976; Bowes 1977).
•
•
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Hydrilla is somewhat winter-hardy; its optimum growth
temperature, 68-81o F; its maximum temperature, 86o F
(Kasselmann 1995).
U.S. southern populations overwinter as perennials;
northern populations overwinter and regrow from
tubers.
Sign at at lake in Texas...
Water Chestnut
Forms dense mats,
blocking sunlight for other
plants, creates oxygen
deficiencies.
Seeds become hardened,
spines are painful to step
on.
Seeds may remain viable
for up to 12 years.
Other Aquatics
Spiny water flea
Round Goby
These damaging
invasive species
arrived because of
human activities.
Rusty Crayfish
Northern Snakehead Fish
Brazilian Elodea
Eurasian Water
Milfoil
Brittle Naiad
Fan wort
Curly Leaf Pond Weed
Asian Clam
European Frogbit
Didymo
(invasive algae)
Photographs:
University of
Connecticut
Ontario-Wayne Stormwater Coalition
Town of Victor
Town of Farmington
Town of Macedon
Town of Ontario
Town of Walworth
Village of Victor
Village of Macedon
Wayne County Highway
Department
Ontario County Highway
Department
Ontario County Soil and Water
Conservation District
Wayne County Soil and Water
Conservation District
For more Information contact:
P J Emerick
480 North Main Street
Canandaigua NY 14424
585-396-1450
[email protected]