Wrapped Response

The Marlborough Express has an article about New Zealand's Didemnum Working Group, which just took home the top prize at the Marlborough Environmental Awards. The team won $250,000 NZ dollars ($184,000 USD) for their innovative way of killing off infestations of Didemnum, an invasive sea squirt: they cover colonies in baleage (balage) wrap, plastic sheeting typically used to wrap up bales of hay. The plastic wrap, if applied properly, eliminates the flow of water within the sea squirt colonies, effectively cutting off the oxygen supply and killing the Didemnum. Test treatments have had a very high rate of success - Didemnum has been eliminated in 97% of the treatment areas. To see details of what is involved in this method of control, read the full report (pdf).

Bonus points to Didemnum Working Group chairman Graeme Coates, who apparently consented to being himself wrapped in plastic balage wrap for the award photo.

Weekend Blog Blogging

Seems like invasive species have been on the minds of a lot of American bloggers lately, what with spring finally getting going and all:

• The Birdfreak Birding Blog posts about something decidedly un-avian: garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). Walking the Berkshires posts about it too.
• The Urbane Homestead starts off on garlic mustard too, but then waxes philosophical about Bishop's weed (Aegopodium podagraria).
• Walking the Berkshires also notes that some idiot let loose a whole bunch of pot-bellied pigs (Sus scrofa, but a presumably more domesticated variety of pig) in Connecticut.
• Fieldmarking posts about the pessimism surrounding the spread of the Emerald ash borer beetle (Agrilus planipennis).
• The most awesomely named SusHI blog (Sustainability in Hawai'i) posts about efforts to rid the island of Kauai of the Australian tree fern (Sphaeropteris cooperi).

P.S. - I am noticing a lack of scientific names in these posts and the articles they refer to. Are we all just feeling very "local" about our blogging these days? :-)

Curses, Milfoiled Again!

We are covering educational and public outreach in my invasive species class tomorrow, and while going through my talk on the subject from 2003, I came across this hysterical animated milfoil PSA (click here for the Real Audio version) that luckily still works. It was produced ten years ago for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but it's none the worse for a decade of wear. Who knew Eurasian water milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) could be so cute?

Weekend Photoblogging

Kudzu on the move.
Originally uploaded by k.lifka.

Kudzu - not your average sessile plant.

You have to give props to a terrestrial vascular plant that can live its entire life as a hitchhiker :-).

Storytelling

Today's post is a story about community action, complete with a happy ending.

I'm a new homeowner (four years this month) and as such I've been making various attempts at landscaping. Mostly this involves removal of invasive species (and some native weeds), but I have also been making some attempts to add new plants to the yard - always something native or non-invasive, of course. I've already made enough purchases to get on the mailing list of pretty much every major gardening catalog and website there is.

Late last year I received an email from Gurney's Seed and Nursery Co. touting the benefits of ornamental shrubs. When I clicked through to the website I ended up on a page selling dwarf burning bush (Euonymus alatus var. compacta). It always annoys me to see invasive plants being given the hard sell to the gardening public. But now, things are different: in 2006 the state of Massachusetts enacted a ban on over 100 different invasive plants. Burning bush is on that list, with an importation ban as of Jan. 2006, and a propagation ban that goes into effect Jan. 2009. The ban does cover cultivars of invasive plants, and Gurney's is importing plants into Massachusetts from out of state, which means Massachusetts should have been on the list of states Gurney's cannot ship this species to...but they weren't:

So I did what any concerned citizen would do - I emailed Gurney's and asked them why Massachusetts wasn't on their "unable to ship to" list. The response from Customer Service was pretty straightforward: "...At this time, burning bushes are not restricted for spring delivery to MA..."

Problem with that response was that it was wrong. I contacted the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to check, and also mentioned that Gurney's was selling Norway maple (Acer platanoides) and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), both currently banned in Massachusetts. The MDAR verified that import of these species was indeed prohibited, and promised to contact Gurney's. After a few back-and-forths, this was the result:

As of late January 2007, Massachusetts was added to Gurney's "unable to ship to" list for burning bush, Norway maple, and Japanese barberry, and also to some other catalog storefronts (Spring Hill and Audubon Workshop, at least - they all seem to be owned by the same company). I even tried putting the plant in my shopping cart and when I filled out the "Ship To" section as Massachusetts it bounced me back out. Even better, some time between January and today (when I finally got around to getting a screen grab and completing this post), someone in New Hampshire apparently did the same thing, because NH is now on the "unable to ship to" list too!

Sure, seeing positive effects from a small action like a few emails feels good. But wouldn't it be better if there were a system in place where sellers of plants could easily keep up to date about the changes in prohibited plants? Rules are only going to get more restrictive (and more complicated!) as more and more official invasive plant lists are implemented at the state level...never mind the county and town-based regulations. In the meantime, I am happy this was resolved and I even purchased many of my vegetable seeds from Gurney's this year. Also, Audubon Workshop seems to have a nice selection of native Northeast U.S. shrubs in their mix this season.

Weekday Photoblogging

bug of the day
Originally uploaded by urtica.

Wasps in UMass Boston! (No, not *that* kind...European paper wasps!)

King Arthur's Court Date

A New Hampshire man was in court today following his arrest last January for cutting down some trees on his neighbor's property. According to this article from the Portland Herald, Mr. Arthur Patch intentionally and apparently without remorse cut down seven Norway maples (Acer platanoides), estimated to have been about 20 years old, and turned them into firewood. Among his claims of defense were that the trees are invasive, which is true. However, there is ample evidence that his real goal was to gain a clear view of a nearby pond. Once a surveyor confirmed that the trees were on the neighbor's property, a warrant went out for Mr. Patch's arrest, and he voluntarily turned himself in.

Cost of the ordeal:

• a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief-vandalism
• a $500 fine
• an impending lawsuit for damages covering the cost of replacement (Likely expensive, but here's hoping they pick something native!)
• the embarrassment of having his *mugshot* pasted all over the local news...for chopping down some trees.

Oh Arthur, if only I could believe you had good in your heart when you took to the saw!