By Kate Hill

Staff Writer

On July 8, Cazenovia initiated the second season of its European frog-bit (EFB) removal project — a three-year initiative aimed at eradicating the invasive aquatic plant from Cazenovia Lake.

The Town of Cazenovia was awarded $48,103 for the project through New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Invasive Species Rapid Response and Control Grant Program.

Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA) secured the grant in 2017 with assistance from Cazenovia College.

Since the start of the project in 2018, crews have made significant progress, successfully removing large quantities of the plant from the infested areas of the lake.

EFB grows small lily pad-like leaves, about the size of quarters, and produces white flowers with three petals and yellow centers.

The floating, round to heart-shaped leaves grow in rosettes — clusters of several leaves attached closely together at their base — which grow along a horizontal stem called a stolon.

The plant’s long, dense roots usually hang down into the water without touching the bottom. Only in very shallow water can the roots grow down into the bottom.

Relatively late in the growing season, dormant “overwintering” buds, called turions, form on the ends of the stolon.

The turions eventually break off and sink down to the bottom until the next spring, when they float up and sprout.

So far this summer, more than 30 Cazenovia College-employed crewmembers and community volunteers have worked to hand-pull and discard as many of the floating plants as possible before they can reproduce.

“We will go until the turions begin to appear and fall off the plant,” said Project Leader Thad Yorks, professor of environmental biology and biology programs at Cazenovia College.

According to Yorks, Racine-Johnson Aquatic Ecologists first detected EFB in 2014 at the north end of the lake, during its annual aquatic plant “rake toss” survey.

Robert L. Johnson, owner of Racine-Johnson, announced the survey results at the 2014 Cazenovia Lake Summit, presented by the Cazenovia Lake Association.

EFB later appeared in large quantities in the northwest bay and the northern inlets, and in smaller quantities to the south along both sides of the lake as far down as McNitt State Park. The plant has also become densely populated in the wetland complex just north of the lake.

Native to Europe, EFB also grows in parts of Asia and Africa.

The species arrived in North America in the early 1930s when it was brought to Ottawa, Ontario for study as a potential ornamental plant.

The plant escaped to the nearby Rideau Canal and has been spreading ever since.

According to Yorks, the free-floating EFB is not a concern in the deeper sections of the lake, as the plants are easily swept by the wind to shoreline areas and protected coves.

However, if left uncontrolled, the spread of EFB could negatively impact both shoreline recreation and aquatic ecosystems.

Once established, the plant can form very dense floating mats that impede the movement of boats, swimmers, and even large fish and diving ducks.

According to Yorks, because photosynthesis is concentrated at the surface and the oxygen in the air is prevented from diffusing into the water, the mats can deplete the dissolved oxygen levels in the water column.

They can also prevent sunlight from reaching the aquatic plants below.

The poor growth conditions created by EFB can threaten the survival of native plants.

Cazenovia was one of 35 municipalities, not-for-profits and higher educational institutions awarded funding through the first round of the Invasive Species Rapid Response and Control Grant Program.

The purpose of the program, according to the DEC, is “to promote timely decision-making and communication in the event of a new invasive species infestation.”

Lauren Lines, executive director of CACDA, prepared the grant application for the Town of Cazenovia.

According to Lines, the project was appealing to the state because the frog-bit presence in the lake at the time was relatively new and small, and it was a situation in which eradication could be possible.

“This is a competitive program, but [our project] fit so well,” she said. “Of all the grant applications I’ve done, this was the one I felt most confident about, because it was exactly what they were looking for.”

The project includes a combination of paid and volunteer college and high school students, retired community members, and other interested individuals.

As schools start back up and sports resume, the project will increasingly rely on volunteers — particularly high school students looking to fulfill their community service requirements.

“The crews seem to be having fun out there,” Lines said. “That’s been an unexpected benefit of the project. These young people have learned a lot about the environment and the health of the lake, and they are outdoors, having fun.”

The crews work in four-hour shifts: a morning session (7 to 11 a.m.), supervised by Crew Leader Sue Parker, and an evening session (4 to 8 p.m.), led by Cazenovia College students Breanna Kern and Kiernan Blouin.

“Working on the project has been a blast,” Parker said. “I can’t think of a better way to spend an early morning than paddling around a swamp with a bunch of hard working, environmentally sensitive [people] . . . I’m thrilled to help on a project that is proactively managing a plant that could potentially harm aquatic life in our waterways . . . It’s been a great project on so many levels.”

Each shift, the crews leave from Moriah and Josh Hamm’s property on North Lake Rd.

“[The Hamms] have been tremendously generous,” Yorks said.

Cazenovia’s Boy Scout Troop 18 has also allowed the crews use of their canoes at a reduced cost.

This summer, the crews have focused a considerable amount of effort on the wetlands to the north of the lake.

This area, which has become overrun with EFB, poses a great challenge to the crews.

“[The problem] is either much more extensive than we originally understood or it’s grown more quickly than we would have expected,” Yorks said. “It’s a floating plant, but it apparently does just fine in really wet soil or debris. Physically, you just can’t get back in there to get it . . . I don’t think we are going to be able to eradicate it, we are just going to have to try to control it.”

Yorks is optimistic, however, that the team can get a good handle on the main part of the lake.

By the end of the project in 2020, he anticipates that the maintenance of the body of water will require relatively minimal effort at no additional cost to the community.

To learn more about the project or to volunteer, email [email protected].