While working with the "Outsmarting Invasive Species" application on the South Shore, I was able to pinpoint the approximate locations of many invasive plants and arthropods in my local area.
It is my hope that this information will be used to combat the spread of some of these species in the future. In the meantime, I will continue to use OIS, along with Flora Incognita and INaturalist, to pinpoint invasive species where it is most important: state parks like the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton!
Green Crab agonism with spider crab, taken by author in June
Common reeds were located today in 12 locations throughout the Cohasset/Scituate area. These reeds are fast spreading, and better location analyses of where they can be found may help in managing their population.
There is hope to managing this species in the future: two moth species, Archanara geminipuncta (the twin-spotted wainscot) and Archanara neurica (the white-mantled wainscot) have shown high host-specificity in laying eggs on Phragmites australis. It is possible that these two species may be used in the future for biological control, as the traditional method of herbicide is not 100% effective, and may pollute fragile wetland ecosystems (Blosset et al. 2018).
Source:
Blossey, B., Häfliger, P., Tewksbury, L., Dávalos, A., & Casagrande, R. (2018). Host specificity and risk assessment of Archanara geminipuncta and Archanara neurica, two potential biocontrol agents for invasive Phragmites australis in North America. Biological control, 125, 98-112.
The common reed (Phragmites australis) is one of the most destructive invasive species in New England. In this satellite image of Baileys Creek in Cohasset, you can easily see the destruction that phragmites are causing, looking like a brown disease eating away at the green cordgrass along the bank. Unlike cordgrass, which provides a home for numerous species of insects, reptiles, crustaceans and fish, the reeds form thick strands that are almost impenetrable for animals to walk though.
Many invasive plants call the forests of Cohasset home. Using the app FloraIncognita, plants were identified on the outskirts of forests and sent into the Outsmarting Invasive Species application for possible cleanup efforts.
August 25th (Border St, wildland-urban interface space)
Asiatic bittersweet, (Solanum dulcamara)
Horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) from South East Europe. Growing in a strand on the side of the road leading into the forest
October 31st (Outskirts of Wompatuck State Park)
Norway Maple, an ornamental plant introduced in residential neighborhoods. Competes with native sugar maple.
November 16th (Whitney and Thayer Woods)
Grape-vine (Vitis vinifera), native to Eurasia and a likely stowaway from past cultivation.
Mexican Sarsaparilla (Similax rotundifolia) from Central America
Although The Outsmarting Invasive Species app is partnered with many local organizations and universities, it is not as popular as it should be. The lack of competent advertising is therefore a major letdown for the project. Even so, there are many other species identification apps that essentially do the same job of locating outbreaks, such as INaturalist.
The comical promotional video posted in the Introduction (and linked below) has less than 7,000 views on Youtube, despite being posted in 2012. Although clearly an attempt to engage the public in citizen science, it seems to have fallen short of its goals. I hope that the improvements coming next year to Outsmarting Invasive Species bring further popularity to the app. I could see the promotional video becoming viral (if posted in the right places) because it is well put together: as absurd as it is educational. If I were in charge, I would increase outreach efforts, possibly by connecting with Mass Audubon to use their established advertising network.
With that said, the message behind this project is absolutely beneficial to New England's unique ecosystems. If all the hikers and outdoorsmen and women had this application downloaded, organizations like Mass Audubon would be much better equipped to stop invasive species before they reach our precious state parks and preserves. Perhaps better communication between organizations, as well as upcoming improvements, will allow this project to reach its full potential.
Distribution maps are one way that my data will be shared with the rest of the world. By simply clicking on a species name, the user is taken to a map of New England with specific locations of where it may be found. I believe this is the most useful feature of the app: public connectivity allows conservation managers to understand where invasive species may be present in order to combat them. Here is a screen capture of the prevalence of the common reed (Phragmites australis) in Massachusetts!
The compilation of data from citizen scientists throughout New England can be found at the link below:
My biggest complaint with the application is that is not updated frequently enough with the distribution maps on the Edd Maps website. Despite having tabs for wildlife and plant diseases, there are no entries into any tab besides plants. Better connectivity would be a useful tool for citizen scientists to see the hard work of others identifying invasive fauna.
Despite my complaints, it seems that a more updated, connected app will be available in the Spring that also includes the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England under the Edd Maps umbrella. Soon enough, I will be able to view my own data on the Edd Maps website. This will likely solve the lack of fauna issue as well.
White clover (Trifolium repens) is a common "weed" of gardens. Despite being an introduced species from Europe, the clover provides pollinating opportunities for insects that lawn grass does not. The plant itself also provides shelter for many species of animals, including the snapping turtle below, spotted in late August.
The turtle here was uprooting the clover to dig a nest. I would imagine that some plants are much more difficult to dig through than clover, such as the powerful root systems of the invasive Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota), which occupies the same niche. Clover may benefit the snapping turtle in other ways as well, providing a foraging opportunity: snapping turtles are common predators of earthworms.
Clover is a herbaceous perennial plant, meaning it lives several years, persisting through the winter with surviving roots. When it does die, it leaves behind traces of nitrogen that can be utilized by other plants. It also requires less water than lawn grass (Smith & Fellowes 2013). White clover may be a nonnative species that can be beneficial to the environments it lives in, even if it does displace native flora. Either way, it is a better alternative than nonnative lawn grass, which provides little for native species to use.
Source:
Smith, L. S., & Fellowes, M. D. (2013). Towards a lawn without grass: the journey of the imperfect lawn and its analogues. Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, 33(3), 157-169.
Within an hour of observation during low tide, gulls were an efficient predator of the invasive green crab.
Three types of gulls were observed.
Herring gulls were the most common at 4 individuals (2 juveniles). One black backed gull also visited the scene, preying on a single green crab. In terms of which crustaceans were preyed upon the most, 3 spider crabs and 6 green crabs were taken from the shallows in total, indicating that green crabs are an established part of certain gull diets in this area.
I have known this area to be highly populated by green crabs. Below is a photo taken by myself in July when learning the average size of green crabs in Cohasset. The crabs were collected from under the Border St. Bridge, near where the sea gulls were hunting crabs.
Much of Cohasset is composed of public parks heavily dominated by nonnative grasses. Within these spaces, there are very few native organisms, as so-called "weeds" from Europe attempt to outcompete lawn grass.
Dandelions, for example, were brought to New England by Puritans in the 17th century to be used as a salad green. Versatile and highly competitive, the common dandelion soon spread throughout the New World, and can be found in Canada, South America, and throughout the United States (Dara 2006).
Since this plant has been establishing itself in New England for over 400 years, studying interactions with native species seemed like a good place to start!
The study area itself is Wheelwright park, located at the edge of a disturbed forest. Dandelions were plentiful here, as were pollinators:
Sweat beeswere by far the most common visitor. At least 10 were spotted pollinating on individual flowers. These two above are likely Poey's furrow bee (Halictus poeyi), a native species.
A larger sweat bee is Lasioglossum
leucozonium, which is an introduced species from Europe.
Another Halictus native sweat bee of a different species.
Lygus lineolaris, or "tarnished plant bug," native species.
Invasive species are an unfortunate consequence of both human mobility and our attempts to try and alter and control natural systems. Certain invasive species are incredibly dangerous to ecosystems, wielding the potential to drive native species to extinction. Many invasive species are also almost impossible to completely eradicate once they become established (Anderson et al. 2004). To retain biodiversity, the best approach is continuous management, made possible through the work of dedicated citizen scientists who record local outbreaks. I have decided to get involved in the fight.
Of the many applications that allow observers to enter their own data, "Outsmart Invasive Species" is a well funded application specific to invasive species in the New England region. Here is a comical promotional video of the project, which illustrates just how important the public's participation can be in maintaining fragile ecosystems:
Outsmart Invasive Species is a collaborative effort between the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MA DCR) and the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia. The app provides a space for citizen scientists to record instances of invasive species in New England in order to eliminate them before they spread. It accomplishes this goal by geotagging photographs and adding it to a community database.
My study area of Cohasset, Massachusetts, is a brilliant place for me to search for invasive species for several reasons. First off, housing development is an important contributing factor in the spread of invasive species in New England. The existence of invasive plants is correlated with wildland–urban interface spaces and low density residential areas (Gavier-Pizarro et al. 2010). With 8,500 people in 31.44 mi², the town of Cohasset is filled with wildland-urban interface spaces between forests and suburbs.
Furthermore, I am already quite familiar with some local invasive species. Green crabs, for example, are known to eat lobsters, uproot eelgrass, and agonize spider crabs and blue crabs (Grosholz & Ruiz 1996). I have already conducted a project on green crabs, establishing a convenient a cuisine for their meat. Phragmites reeds are also a dangerous enemy of wetlands, displacing native grasses by forming large strands up to 15 feet high (Silliman & Bertness 2004). These occur in many places in Cohasset, despite human efforts to cut them down. There are also many relics of agriculture throughout this space; remnants of grapevine, plum, and carrot cultivation are prevalent within disturbed forests.
While some invasive species have the potential to permanently alter entire ecosystems, others are less dangerous, even beneficial in some cases. In order to better understand how invasive species function in novel environments, I will also be taking note whenever I see native species utilizing invasive ones. This will allow me to realize if the management of some invasive species should be prioritized over others.
Sources:
Andersen, M. C., Adams, H., Hope, B., & Powell, M. (2004). Risk assessment for invasive species. Risk Analysis: An International Journal, 24(4), 787-793.
Gavier-Pizarro, G. I., Radeloff, V. C., Stewart, S. I., Huebner, C. D., & Keuler, N. S. (2010). Housing is positively associated with invasive exotic plant species richness in New England, USA. Ecological Applications, 20(7), 1913-1925.
Grosholz, E. D., & Ruiz, G. M. (1996). Predicting the impact of introduced marine species: lessons from the multiple invasions of the European green crab Carcinus maenas. Biological Conservation, 78(1-2), 59-66.
Silliman, B. R., & Bertness, M. D. (2004). Shoreline development drives invasion of Phragmites australis and the loss of plant diversity on New England salt marshes. Conservation Biology, 18(5), 1424-1434.
