Will need paid crew and volunteers to hand-pull European Frog-Bit
The town of Cazenovia recently received a nearly $50,000 state grant that will be used to battle the invasive lake weed commonly known as European Frog-bit, which is currently choking the edges of the northern bay of the lake, as well as the northern stream inlets.
The weed, which floats on the water’s surface and essentially shuts out light and oxygen to the area and animals beneath it, was first discovered in Cazenovia Lake in 2014 and has been slowly expanding. Its numbers were “not problematic yet, but it is there and it is expanding,” said Bob Johnson, of Racine-Johnson Aquatic Ecologists, during the December 2016 Cazenovia Lake Summit.
Because the frog-bit presence was relatively new and small in Cazenovia Lake and a sustained eradication effort could be successful, it was a perfect project to apply for the state’s Invasive Species Rapid Response and Control Grant Program, said Lauren Lines, director of CACDA, who prepared the grant for the town.
“I think our project did well because frog-bit is considered a priority invasive species and its present status in the lake fit perfectly with the goals of this grant program,” Lines said. She said this was the first time this specific grant opportunity was offered — only $1.7 million awarded statewide. “Even though it was competitive, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more confident that a project would be funded,” she said. “I think it’s going to be an excellent opportunity for the community to get involved in a very worthwhile effort.”
The goal of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s rapid response for invasive species policy is to “promote timely decision-making and communication in the event of a new invasive species infestation,” according to the DEC. “This policy ensures that grant recipients give adequate attention to all of the necessary components of an effective response including: coordination, communication, public outreach, planning, scientific analysis, information management, and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, resources and logistics.”
The $48,000 grant will be received from the state in 2018, so the actual eradication project will not start until next year, Lines said.
Once the project commences, Thad Yorks, associate professor of environmental biology and biology programs at Cazenovia College, will lead the effort. He already started hand-pulling frog-bit out of the lake with some of his college students last year.
European Frog-bit is an annual plant that grows in a tangle of up to 12-inch roots but floats on the water in dense mats and is not rooted into the lake bottom; it has tiny, lily pad-like leaves, about the size quarters, and produces small white flowers. It grows aggressively and, left unchecked, will negatively affect other species in the lake by preventing sunlight penetration below the surface, and lowering water temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels, Yorks said.
Yorks and one of his Cazenovia College ecology classes hand-pulled a generous amount of frog-bit out of the lake’s north bay in 2016 and, looking at the same spots recently, their efforts had some effect, although the areas of frog-bit may have spread.
“I bet it has expanded since then,” Yorks said. “The creek at the north end of the lake is just choked with it.”
To eradicate frog-bit, it must be hand-pulled before its seed pods fall off to germinate, or else the pulling will have little effect, he said. However, with long enough and efficient enough hand-pulling, it can be eradicated. “You can’t say that about many invasive species,” he said.
With the state grant funding, Yorks will lead a team of paid volunteers — mostly college-age students and youth, but also high school-age youth — to the areas with frog-bit and commence pulling. It comes out easily, since it is not rooted, and is thrown on land where it quickly dies. The project will begin probably in mid-July and continue into the fall, he said.
“I am cautiously optimistic we will have an impact on the plant and hopefully get rid of it,” Yorks said.
