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| Photo: Alison Fox, University of Florida |
This plant can cause a few different impacts on native fish species. It can disrupt the predator prey relationship. The large dense mats keep out larger fish reducing their food supply. Another problems this plant can cause is that when it becomes dense it can lead to algae blooms. Algae blooms can lead to deoxygenation of water which leads to fish kills.
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| Photo: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut |
There are a few ways to control this plant. The herbicides work but they also kill native plant species. Removing the plants by hand is effective but slow and costly. Mechanical harvesters can "mow" back the plants. None of these are good solutions and the infestation is only reduced not stopped.
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| Copyright © 2006 Claude Pilon |
What seems like a better solution to me would be what was done in Lake Ovid in Sleepy Hollow State Park in Clinton County. There the Euhrychiopsis lecontei, or milfoil weevil was introduced. Which is a native insect that usually eats the native variety of milfoil. This weevil was introduced into Lake Ovid in 2006. With an initial introduction of 24,000 weevils spread in six different regions of the lake. Within a month you could visibly see a reduction in the Eurasian water milfoil. The weevil has spread on its own to other parts of the lake and has resulted in a significant reduction of milfoil. Although the weevil did not completely eliminate the milfoil it has brought it under control. This weevil has been introduced into other lakes and has produced similar results. This is a great sustainable eco-friendly solution to the problem. My sources for this post came from the Michigan DNR and MSU websites. Weevil picture from bugguide.net.
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