Hydrilla Hunt 2014
Join the Hydrilla Hunt! 2014
The Nature Conservancy and the New York Federation of Lake Associations will present a webinar on August 7th to kick off a week long Hydrilla Hunt in New York State. Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) is an aggressive aquatic invasive plant found in a limited number of locations in state waters during the last three years. The webinar will instruct volunteers on the skills needed to identify Hydrilla, what to do if you find a suspect plant, and how to record the areas that have been searched.
Volunteers will help us search in lakes and rivers across New York. This weeklong project should help locate undiscovered Hydrilla populations, and a statewide look should help us better identify the ways that this invasive is spreading and the conditions that are favorable for its growth.
The webinar will be held on August 7th at 2 pm. Participants can join the webinar at https://nethope.webex.com/mw0307l/mywebex/default.do?service=7&main_url=%2Ftc0506l%2Ftrainingcenter%2Fdefault.do%3Fsiteurl%3Dnethope%26main_url%3D%252Ftc0506l%252Fe.do%253FAT%253DMI%2526%2526Host%253D606c0b1d785d4040%2526UID%253D1290906702%2526HMAC%253De30bf2d3330c5d304b412ff151bd1bd1e07c009a%2526siteurl%253Dnethope%2526confID%253D1228187951%2526ticket%253D1849811b6cb21ccf9b07209bde18a431&siteurl=nethope
Sign in with your name and email address. The password is Hydri11a (using the number 1 not the letter l) . If you can’t attend the webinar at that time, a recording will be posted here later, together with additional information.
The webinar will instruct participants where to look for hydrilla, summarize sampling techniques to gather suspect plants and show how to report search areas and findings. Volunteers will be asked to search for hydrilla over the weekend and during following week . Report possible hydrilla sightings as well as locations that were searched but no hydrilla was found will help us understand the statewide distribution of hydrilla type of lakes that are conducive to hydrilla.
The steps in the Hydrilla Hunt are:
- August 7th to August 17th: Search your lake river or water body for hydrilla and keep track of the areas that were searched
- Report your results at the iMap site or by email to Scott Kishbaugh at sakishba@gw.dec.state.ny.us It is important to report all locations searched in order to better understand how hydrilla is being transported around NYS or how fast it is moving in NYS
- If you find a suspected hydrilla plant report the information and collect the suspected plant for verification. You can post a photo on iMap or send it to Scott Kishbaugh at sakishba@gw.dec.state.ny.us
- Be available to answer questions on your search for follow-up for plant verification or verify where searches have been completed
- Get your friends and neighbors involved. Additional volunteers can participate by reviewing the webinar and TNC web site to see the instructions to complete a Hydrilla Hunt, and results can continue to be submitted after August 17th.
For more information on hydrilla see http://ccetompkins.org/environment/invasive-species/hydrillahttp://ccetompkins.org/environment/invasive-species/hydrilla and http://www.nyis.info/index.php?action=invasive_detail&id=16
An identification guide and data form should be used in the hunt.
A PowerPoint presentation describing the RAKE TOSS METHOD for collecting and identifying aquatic plants can be found here. You do not have to use this method to participate in the hydrilla hunt.
The webinar presentation charts can be found here.
Expanded charts with additional information can be found here.
If you will use iMap to record search areas and results, training for iMap use is found on this iMap page.
We hope to post a replay of the webinar soon after the event.
Bob Johnson presents information on hydrilla identification in this video.
