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| Map of abundance and location of hydrilla on Lake Kissimmee |
Reduced-risk Herbicides & More Access to Maps
Most recreational users of our nation’s lakes admit that invasive
plants and animals cause problems. These
accidental invaders infest our waterbodies, often clogging waterways and impacting
the balance of the ecosystems.
Hydrilla
is one of those invaders, and widely managed because of its ability to overtake
native plants at uncontrollable rates.
Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation (AERF) and several
natural resource agencies have been actively evaluating several new,
reduced-risk herbicides. The results are
expected to help guide water resource managers for selective Hydrilla control
in lakes, rivers, canals, and reservoirs.
By being plant-specific, these herbicides will continue to support past
practices of managing invasive plants while limiting impacts on non-target
plants.
As part of the herbicide evaluation process, mapping
techniques are being improved. These
techniques are allowing resource managers to gather faster and more detailed information
on plant locations, effectiveness of controls, and overall biomass reduction
rates. This highly detailed process gives
plant managers something they did not have in the past, a nearly precise
measurement of plant control.
One example is the work being conducted by the Fish andWildlife Conservation Commission and University of Florida. They evaluated the submersed plant
communities on the four main Kissimmee Chain lakes in January, 2013. From this information they were able to gage
the impacts and regrowth potential from previous hydrilla control efforts. These details will help them better plan
where future hydrilla management may be needed in spring of 2013.
The submersed plant images are posted with bathymetric maps
for each of the four lakes of the Kissimmee Chain on the UF / FWC website. Navigate down the webpage and select the first letter of the lake you are interested in viewing.
