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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-05-13, Page 259fome & (forfeit 1992 THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13,1992. PAGE 25. Purple loosestrife invading wetlands The overwhelming colour and density of purple spiked flowers blanketing many of Canada's finest wetlands, including ones in Huron County, are contrasted by an unnatural stillness. The silence in these usually vibrant environments pulls at your ears, telling you something is terribly wrong. You no longer see the muskrat family and their ripples on the water. You don't hear the familiar slap of the beaver tail. The multitudes of native songbird species are reduced to a handful. Deer that once frequented the marsh edge have disappeared, along with raccoons, waterfowl, shorebirds and painted turtles that once shared this habitat. Fishing is out of the question now. You can't see or hear or touch the water because the thick plant growth below and above the surface stops you from penetrating more than a few steps into the wetland. Native sedges, bulrushes and grasses are gone, as are the original floating and submerged aquatic vegetation. If you've been visiting this spot for five or ten years, you realize the death of this wetland has been gradual. It didn't happen overnight. What careless act destroyed these once rich and diversified biosystems? There really is no mystery. The killer is purple 1 oosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), a hardy flowering plant that was accidentally introduced to North America from Europe in the 1800s. Since then, purple loosestrife has made a slow, relentless invasion of wetlands and waterways, primarily in Eastern Canada, but also in British Area landscaper wins hydro tender Don Blake of RR 1, Auburn has been successful in his tender to plant trees for the Clinton Ontario Hydro. Mr. Blake's landscaping business, "Treebelt", was awarded the contract beating out at least 15 to 20 other contract bids. He says his low overhead, one truck and one large trailer, was a huge benefit in keeping his tender bid low. The contract includes the plant­ ing of 600 trees, 32 varieties, out of the Clinton office, and 30 for the Strathroy area. He was also award­ ed the fall planting tender. Ontario Hydro will supply the markers, and Mr. Blake has until June 15 to complete spring plant­ ing. Columbia. In other parts of Canada, particularly the Prairies, the spread occurred as seeds from innocently planted home landscape specimens found their way into adjacent water bodies. Because this beautiful killer has no natural enemy in North America, purple loosestrife has expanded its range into every Canadian province. It is spreading at an alarming rate and can now be found from coast to coast. But purple loosestrife is an attractive plant. It's vigorous and durable. We plant it once and it seems to last forever. Nothing hurts it. Why should we be concerned? We should be concerned because nothing hurts it. The plant takes over ponds, beaches, marshes, stream banks, farm dugout, irrigation and navigation canals, lakeshores and ditches. It can even take over effluent purification ponds! Any shallow water body that can support life is susceptible to infestation and domination by purple loosestrife. Any water body that receives even one seed may eventually become totally choked out by this weed. Once a wetland is overrun with loosestrife, the natural habitat is lost and the productivity of native plant and animal communities severely reduced. Nearby water bodies are also likely to be affected by this or other types of habitat destruction. There is no room for displaced wildlife. Fish and invertebrate populations that cannot move are lost forever. The loss of wildlife habitat caused by this plant scourge is enormous. Purple loosestrife manages to colonize and thrive so easily because of its prolific seed production. Each plant can produce up to 2.7 million seeds in one season. Seeds are carried far and wide by birds, animals, water or the wind and can remain viable for many years. Purple loosestrife is a highly competitive plant from the moment a seed touches the mud. It germinates quicker and grows faster than just about any other Canadian wetland species. It quickly traps nutrients and sunlight to establish tall adult plants. In the wild, organisms that compete best will prosper ... the law of nature ... survival of the fittest. Purple loosestrife is the top competitor! The infested water system eventually becomes choked with the invading plant. Open water becomes a solid mass of woody stalks. Even the soft, muddy floor of wetlands becomes a woven mat of tough roots with no significant food value for other living organisms. There is no Canadian bird, animal or fish that depends on any part of this plant. That means wetland creatures are around purple loosestrife consuming the remaining native plant population. They effectively “eat themselves out of house and home!” As native vegetation is consumed, more space is created for new purple loosestrife plants. Control measures such as burning, mowing and flooding have met with little success. Environ­ mentally acceptable control measures are being sought by federal and provincial govern­ ments, universities and private organizations. This research is currently underway in Canada and the United States, but the prospects V (~Vnwnv-BiLT Rid your yard of ugly brush! 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