Aquatic Weed Control – Eurasian Milfoil, an Invasive Danger to US Waters – Milfoil Control Options
The Eurasian milfoil is a fragile looking flora that was once a common flora to find in fresh water aquariums.
Still, It did not stay there. This water flora was never meant to grow beyond the boundaries of an aquarium and now all North American lakes, rivers, streams and pools are in danger of becoming home to Eurasian Milfoil.
In its domestic Eurasian surroundings it is a comparatively harmless plant (but still a bit of a pest) but here, out of its normal waters, it takes over and destroys ecosystems, clogs water intakes and power plants, and makes them unsuitable for recreational purposes.
Although there is some doubt about how Eurasian Milfoil spread, investigators have produced some legitimate explanations. One is that it hitched a ride on the ballast of a ship coming from Europe or Asia. The thought is sound. Tests show that 25% of boats that have been in infested water have some milfoil stuck to them. The other main possibility is it was introduced by people throwing out aquarium plants or packing material used to ship live worms.
The most dangerous thing about this flora is that it can adapt to live in about every kind of aquatic habitat in North America. This dangerous water plant is not particular about temperature and will exist in mild or cool waters. Milfoil will go through successful growth if it is the Rockies or the warm lakes in the south. This water plant is even more dangerous because so few beasts seem to relish eating it.
Once established it spreads quickly in waters that range from 2 feet to up to 30 feet, snarling just below the surface and clogging out the native vegetation. Some of these, like millet, are a favorite of water fowl and others serve as the home ground of fry, an essential part of the ecosystem. This tangled growth also causes trouble for any mammals or birds that fish for their food. In addition to stimulating problems for local wildlife, these matted plants cut the amount of wind reaching the water, which the oxygen levels of water making it hard for fish to thrive and giving algae and unfair opportunity at growth.
For humans, it causes problems as well. When milfoil has become established in a expanse of water, swimmers are not able to enjoy shoreline bathing. With fewer fish, fewer individuals will want to fish in milfoil infested waters. This water flora are an extreme annoyance to boatmen as well as it works a boat engine harder than usual and makes unsafe conditions for piloting and water skiing.
businesses and towns fair little better than the watermen and the wildlife. At times intake pipes or over flow pipes become clogged causing either flooding or water shortfall. Huge milfoil mats that get caught in dikes can be damaging and hurt electricity production.
Management of this little water plant has been difficult. More Often Than Not poisons are out of the question as they destroy the very ecosystem they were meant to save.
removal has its own set of problem because of how it propagates, by breaking off into little pieces that take root when they reach the bottom. For that reason the large mechanical harvesters are only used in the worst cases and then only as a first step. Milfoil has been more successfully removed by vacuum dredging, which can pick up any broken pieces left behind. A weevil is the solution to the milfoil dilemma as it love to eat the water plant and is a natural way to fight the weed.
Many other invasive species have gotten out of control; milfoil is just one instance of what can happen and how the problem can be solved. When plants or beasts are inserted outside their natural environment, you can t foresee the significances. Just ask the South about kudzu vine.