The Lake Association uses a portion of your assessment to
help control the over population of weeds in our lakes. This section will
eventually present both the naturally-occurring and transplanted species,
but in the interim, let's look at the transplant that's on everybody's
*-list.
Purple Loosestrife
| You may have noticed an occasional
beautiful purple bush-like flower growing among the cattails and marsh
grasses. Although one's first reaction is to admire the plant's
beauty, this plant, Purple Loosestrife, is definitely not an asset to
our wetlands.
Purple Loosestrife invades wetlands, eventually completely taking over from native plants. Once it invades an area and out-competes the native flora, the wildlife that depended upon the native species is forced to move into new areas. Waterfowl will not eat Loosestrife seeds and Muskrats eat around PL stands. Wildlife species are displaced, and those that can not move into new areas will be lost. What remains is a biological desert devoid of native plant and wildlife species. |
What can be done? If you have any of these plants growing on your property, dig them up by the roots and burn them after the dry out. Herbicides can be effective, but extreme care must be used to avoid killing native plants and contaminating the water. There is a lot of information on the internet about
this nuisance plant. A few sites are: |
Eurasian Watermilfoil
| Years ago, according to Lobdell - Bennett Lake
Ecologist Douglas Pullman, this invasive plant was a dominant
pest on the lakes. It was so bad that the lakes' surface resembled a
"parking lot". Does anyone remember those days? Fortunately, for the
past few years, the weed has been, for the most part, under control. However, Doug reported in the August, 2001 newsletter that it is returning to the lake, and is "spreading rapidly", but he hopes it will be controlled with weed treatment. Here's hoping! |
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More information on Eurasian Milfoil can be found here.
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