Invasive Species Summit_11062015_Afternoon Session Current and Emerging Threats

Moderated by: Linda Rohleder, Director of Land Stewardship and Coordinator of the Lower Hudson PRISM. In 2013, Linda received her PhD in Ecology from Rutgers University, where she studied the effects of deer on forest understories. Linda built the Trail Conference’s Invasives Strike Force volunteer program. By 2014, the program had about 200 trained invasives-mapping volunteers who collectively had surveyed more than 870 miles of trail for invasive plants. She has organized invasives-removal workdays in parks across southern New York and northern New Jersey. And Daniel Atha is Conservation Program Manager at The New York Botanical Garden.  He has conducted botanical field work in all 50 states of the US as well as such far-flung places as Vietnam, Bolivia, Mexico, Belize and several states of the former Soviet Union.  His work is focused on four main areas: floristics—what plants grow in a particular region; taxonomy—how to tell one plant from another, what to call it and what is it related to; applied botany—how plants are used for food, medicine, shelter and other useful purposes; and conservation—safeguarding plant species and the habitats that support them.

Preventing invasions is the most efficient method to managing invasive species and protecting the rich, native biodiversity of the Lower Hudson region. Through hands-on research and surveys, early detection and rapid response is possible. This consisted of short-talks on topics related to current and emerging threats to the Lower Hudson Region followed by a panel discussion. Selected short talks were: 

1. “Emerging Invasive Species in the Lower Hudson Region”, Linda Rohleder, New York New Jersey Trail Conference and LH PRISM. 

2. “Incised Fumewort (Corydalis incisa) invasive in North America”, Daniel Atha, The New York Botanical Garden. 

3. “Distribution of Nitellopsis obtusa in New York, U.S.A.”, Robin Sleith, The New York Botanical Garden

4. “Evidence for evolution in glyphosate tolerance, but not resistance, based on history of exposure to the herbicide in Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) in New York”, Acer VanWallendael, Fordham University. 

In summary, the presentations discussed eight plant species, one invertebrate and two insect species currently threatening the region.  The majority of the organisms were new to most participants;  a history of invasion by Incised Fumewort (Corydalis incisa), a recent introduction to the region and posing a significant threat to forests, wetlands and gardens from New York to Washington, DC;  status of the Starry Stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa) infestation throughout New York State including data from surveys of 390 water bodies from the St. Lawrence River to Buffalo and east to the tip of Long Island, testing for pH, temperature, conductivity and several other parameters.  These data were correlated with infestation to produce a predictive profile for the species; and the effects of glyphosate on Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica).  The presentations were followed by a lively question and answer session.