Invasive aquatic plants - no legislation?

[Chiltern Chris]

Hi,

Here's a link to a paper written by Dr Jonathan Newman of Centre for Aquatic Plant Management at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. He's a national expert in aquatic weed management.

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sections/wq/doc...unculoides.pdf

You should note that it was written in 2004 and he suggests using Reglone. This is a diquat based chemical which is now banned from use in water. As this is in a pond, I'd try and take it out manually as regularly as possible. This has been done on the River Lee in London and almost eradicated it. If in desperation you do turn to a herbicide, use one of the 2, 4 D Amine based ones I mentioned in an earlier e-mail.

Good luck and a big to all the garden centre managers selling invasive species. If you'd like more info. why no go to the Water for Wildlife web site ( water for wildlife) which has a campaign against these species and lists of 'pond friendly' plants.

Cheers, Chris

[Susie]

Thanks for the information in this link. I have made a list of suitable plants - and the ones to avoid.

[bardofely]

Looking at the list I could see immediately that there are tropical species that are not going to pose a problem because frost kills them eg. Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and
Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)

So perhaps the problem is not as great as it looks at first, although with many other species it clearly is!

[kaitkaitkait]

Originally Posted by bardofely

Looking at the list I could see immediately that there are tropical species that are not going to pose a problem because frost kills them eg. Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and
Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)

So perhaps the problem is not as great as it looks at first, although with many other species it clearly is!

The problem with water hyacinth and water lettuce both is that our increasingly milder winters may not in fact kill these plants off.

[bardofely]

Originally Posted by kaitkaitkait

The problem with water hyacinth and water lettuce both is that our increasingly milder winters may not in fact kill these plants off.

Then if that is the case already and there are places in Britain that can go through a frost free winter, which I agree would leave them to survive, then this opens up another subject - that of species adaptation to colonise new areas in response to changing habitats and conditions. If the world is to change dramatically then life must find ways to use the new environments, as it has always done and this means that whether we humans like it or not, animals and plants will die out in many places to be replaced by others that tolerate the new conditions. It is humans that have messed up the planet on both counts - the accelerated climate change and the introduction of non-native species and Mother Nature is doing what she can to ensure that life continues and to create a new balance.