Thursday, May 10, 2007

Reading for 5/14

Guest Speaker: Jay Baker, Coastal Zone Management, Northeast Aquatic Species Nuisance Panel

Reading Assignment: Please read IV. Management Objectives and Actions (pp. 32-53) in "The Massachusetts Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan" from the Massachusetts Aquatic Nuisance Species Working Group. Also, please skim the rest of the report to get an idea of what it covers.

Monday, May 7, 2007

Field Trip!

Rick scouted out the loading dock with you guys so we should be all set for meeting up at 4:30 sharp!!! on Wednesday.

We will be visiting wetland habitat in the Neponset River Watershed, where we will see no fewer than a dozen different invasive plant species, including Japanese knotweed, porcelainberry, Phragmites, perennial pepperweed, autumn olive, tree of heaven and purple loosestrife. Most of the species we spot will be at their humble spring beginnings (translation: not in flower). You are welcome to bring a camera and/or a field guide, if you have one. Rick and I will bring guides as well.

While high tide will be occurring right around our trip, we won't be venturing into the estuary (few invasive plants there!) so no need to wear your waders. That said, there will be dirt, sand, possibly a little mud, and some thorny things, so sensible shoes and clothes for being out in the field are recommended...and you will all be asked to "check your boat" and remove all plant propagules before leaving the site :-).

For an introduction to local invasive plant species, check out these websites:

Friday, May 4, 2007

Readings for 5/7

In Monday's class we will be covering invasive species outreach.

Our readings will come from this document:

Communicating Effectively About ANS Issues


Please read ALL of the following:
  • The introductory page
  • One of the four pilot projects (your choice of Arizona, Missouri, New Hampshire or South Carolina). These are big files so just skim to get an idea of what the states were dealing with and note some specific projects.
  • The entire Recommendations section

The entire document is too large to print out. However, if you would like to download your own copy (10Mb file), you can do so here. Once you unzip that file, start with the file named MAINMENU.pdf.