Crystal Lake Aquatic Plants. Dr. George Knoecklein

Transcription

1 Crystal Lake Aquatic Plants Dr. George Knoecklein

2 Things to keep in mind 1. You will not learn it all in one season 2. Start a library of plant keys 3. Begin to get familiar with scientific names 1. In botany, more so than most other fields, common names are not to be trusted 4. You will find plants you can t identify 1. Don t get frustrated. If you have a good specimen, show somebody 5. Collect specimens, keep lists, draw maps 6. Spend a lot of time looking 7. Get to know the experts

3 Habitats Wetlands and Emergents Loosestrife and Phragmites Floating Leaved Water chestnut Submergents All of the others

4 Range of aquatic habitats

5 Tips for identifying aquatic plants First = look at the growth form -- Does it have large floating leaves on the water surface with long stems that go to the sediment? Floating leaved plants = water lilies, water shield, water chestnut -- or does it have a set of leaves at the sediment surface and a long stem that reaches the water surface? Pipewort and Water lobelia -- or does it have a set of leaves that start at the sediment and reach toward the water surface? Water tape grass -- or does it have smaller leaves scattered along the stem? All the other plants = milfoil, pondweed, fanwort

6

7

8 Plant Definitions Invasive = Non-native = Exotic = Alien = Non-indigenous Terms that describe plants that were not native to the region or state but have been brought here through some means We further divide Invasive and non-native by the aggressive tendency of the species Nuisance = Weed Terms that describe plants (native or non-native) that are just an annoyance or in the way Aquatic Plant that lives either in water (wetlands, lakes, rivers, marine)

9 Established invasives in Connecticut Water-milfoil Eurasian water-milfoil Variable-leaf water-milfoil Fanwort Curly-leaf pondweed Purple loosestrife Phragmites Water Chestnut

10 Who are the invaders? First we need to discriminate between those that are established or naturalized, those that are currently invading, and those that are imminent or probable future invaders Established / naturalized are plants that invaded CT years ago and now have a widespread range of occurrence throughout the state Currently invading plants that have arrived here recently and are found in only a few sites in CT Imminent or probable invaders are plants that are likely to invade CT in the near future but are not here yet

11 Why are they so bad? Aggressive growth Many ways of reproducing Turions Tubers Fragments Root systems Can grow in many different conditions Often don t die back in the winter Grow to water surface and form a canopy Faster growth than natives May grow in deeper water

12 Currently invading Water chestnut Hydrilla Brazilian elodea Parrotfeather Mudmat

13 Probable invaders Giant salvinia Common water-hyacinth Water lettuce Yellow floating heart American water lotus Pond water-starwort Brittle water-nymph

14 Invasive Aquatic Species

15 Curly-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus)

16 Variable milfoil (Myriophyllum heterophyllum)

17 Eurasian milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)

18 Water chestnut (Trapa natans)

19 Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata)

20 Fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana)

21 Glossostigma elatinoides (Mud-mat)

22 Surveys and map produced by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

23 Aquatic plants in Crystal Lake 2000

24 Aquatic plants in Crystal Lake 2007

25 Plants in 2017

26 Native Aquatic Species (A few common species found in Crystal Lake)

27 Sagittaria teres (Quill-leaved Arrowhead)

28 Isoetes sp. (Quillwort)

29 Chara sp. (Chara) - Macroalgae

30 Potamogeton epihydrus (Red-leaf pondweed)

31 Brasenia schreberi (Watersheild)

32 Nymphaea odorata (White water lily) and Nuphar variegata (Yellow water lily) Nyphaea odorata Nuphar variegata

33 Elodea nuttallii (Western waterweed) and Elodea canadensis (Common waterweed) nuttallii canadensis

34 Large-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton amplifolius)