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Invasive species pose a constant threat in Keys
Residents of
the Florida Keys know all too well how difficult it is to fight the
spread of trees and weeds that don't belong in our yards.
A drive
through most Keys neighborhoods on any given day will turn up a pile of
branches stacked five to six feet high on the side of the road, waiting
to be hauled away.
Most of the
time, these stacks include the branches from Brazilian pepper trees,
also called Florida holly, which rapidly spreads and robs precious
native trees and plants of sunlight and space needed to grow.
Keys residents
aren't alone in the struggle against invasive plants: Scientists are
battling an invasive, climbing fern that already has wiped out entire
tree islands in the Everglades and is estimated to have infested more
than 100,000 acres from Martin to mainland Monroe County.
As the nation
sinks millions into the largest environmental restoration project in
history by restoring tidal flows in the Everglades, some scientists
worry that the killer fern will render the efforts useless.
"What's the
point of getting the water quality and quantity right if there's nothing
left to save?" asked Tony Pernas, exotic plant specialist with
Everglades National Park.
Scientists say
the fern, called lygodium microphyllum, is a greater threat than the
Brazilian pepper and other invasive plants we are dealing with here, and
thankfully it has not been found in the Keys so far.
Botanists say
they are closely monitoring to make sure the fern doesn't make its way
here. We urge them to continue.
With fragile
hammocks that include gumbo limbo and mahogany trees threatened by
clearing for development and by invasive trees that already are here,
we'd be hard-pressed to battle yet another threat.
To get rid of
the killer fern, scientists are pinning their hopes on two types of moth
and a mite they observed feeding on the fern in Asia. They hope
introducing the moths and mites to the area will help control the fern,
which doesn't now have natural enemies in South Florida.
Let's hope it
works. Just as we are the downstream recipients of water that flushes
through the Everglades, we are close enough to areas with this killer
fern to either benefit or suffer the results of this plant eradication
experiment.
Meanwhile, our
sincere appreciation goes out to the volunteers who spend weekends
clearing out Brazilian pepper in neighborhoods and pristine natural
areas. The Nature Conservancy, Keys master gardeners and many other
groups are tackling this pesky plant, one acre at a time.
Their rewards
are small: the thanks they get from residents and the new, unencumbered
view from the road of the native trees that once were hidden by an
unwelcome but dominating plant.
As one enemy
is chopped down throughout the Keys, we need to keep a watch for the
killer fern to make sure it isn't added to our native trees' list of
threats. |
