Liz Duff Education Coordinator IIIMass Audubon’s Salt Marsh Science Project

Patrolling and controlling Pepperweed:

Successes and challenges in the Great Marsh Region

What is Pepperweed?

• Lepidium latifolium• Invasive species• Flowers form June to

September• Inhibits biodiversity by

“taking over” native plant areas.

The Threats of Pepperweed• Grows into dense, monoculture stands• Small root fragments can re-sprout• Salt tolerant• Invades range and pasture lands

www.ipane.org; Leslie J. Mehrhoff

Lepidium latifolium

• Native to Asia and North Africa

• Introduced to California in 1930’s via sugar beet seed shipment

• Spreads rapidly by rhizomes and seeds

2008

•Began seeing pepperweed sites we monitored in 2001. •Scientists at UMASS Boston mapped sites in the region.March 2005•We did an initial roadside survey in Ipswich in 2006.

2006 Map

Where to look:• Pepperweed seeds are transported by the tide, but the plant itself cannot tolerate a lot of flooding.

• Start looking for it along road-sides that are near the edge of flooding tides.

• When you find some along the road, look in the surrounding area, particularly where the upland meets the marsh.

Photos by Liz Duff

Waist-high dead stalks, alternate branching pattern. (Not Woody)

Great Marsh Pepperweed Control History

• In 2002 NBPT students in MA SMS helped pull pepperweed on the PRNWR

• In fall of 2004 members of the NBPT GOMI team selected pepperweed as their stewardship project.

• They began educating others about this invasive.

• In 2006 The PRNWR, MAS GOMI began recruiting volunteers to pull pepperweed in NBPT at High School Assemblies.

Newburyport Gulf of Maine Institute Team Members

69 Volunteers in 2006!

Successful Teamwork!Permitting, Herbiciding, Grant writing:Sarah Janson

Boat Mapping:Peter Phippen & John Halloran Liz DuffNBPT GOMI Volunteers

Locating, Educating and Eradicating : NBPT GOMI & Liz Duff

Mentoring NBPT GOMI: John Halloran

Mapping, Planning, Coordinating: Liz Duff

Funding: Fish and Wildlife Service,GESusan AdamowiczMass BaysCZM

Successful OutreachNBPT GOMI team

educates others and attracted additional volunteers.– Ipswich High School– Essex Elementary– Sparhawk High School– Triton Regional Middle

School

Roadside signs raise awareness. Ipswich Property owners are granting permission easily.

Methods of Removal: Hand Pulling• Recruited volunteers for

work days• Focused on removing as

much root as possible• Rendered “nonviable”

– Dried pepperweed in sun for at least 7 days

– Sent to an incinerater (making sure none excaped.)

Newburyport Gulf of Maine Institute Team Members

Pepperweed Control cont.

• Spraying

Pre-Post PhotosJNR Ipswich 6/11/2010 Pre-pull JNR Ipswich, Post 10/29/2010-

No pepperweed!

Pre and Post shots taken at many sites. We are making Progress!

Strong Volunteer Support

Control Methods: Pulling and Herbicide

Mechanical treatment is labor intensive and we utilized a number of local volunteers and school groups.

Lessons learned: This is a fun community service activity. Lots of schools are volunteering. Some local citizens are willing to “adopt a site”.

Chemical treatment requires trained applicators and is weather dependent. Herbicide application, however, is very effective very quickly.

Adopt-a-site volunteer Aldyth Innis

Volunteers from the Clark School in Danvers

Bob with backpack sprayer at Parker River NWR

Pepperweed Control Continues to Grow-With Additional Partners Involved.130 sites sprayed, 101 sites pulled,18sites pull and spray, 10 sites CLEAR!

Treatment

264 sites treated in 2010. This is 2x sites treated in 2009!

Increased capacity through increased volunteers – both pulling and spraying.

Further increases in 2011.

Treatment multiple years is necessary.

Large areas of the Great Marsh free of pepperweed!

Small Window of Opportunity for Treatment

•

May June July AugustWeek # 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4Pepperweed growing

x x x x x x x x x x

Greenheads x x x x x xFlowers developing

x x x x x x x x x x

Seeds developing

x x x x x x

Seeds dropping

x x

Pepperweed Pulling/weed whacking

x x x x x x x

Pulling Recheck

x x x x

Herbicide Use: Non Rainy Days needed.

x x x x x

Extended Herbicide use

x x

Must treat on dry days

Where is it?• Invades riparian areas,

marshes, pastures, agricultural fields, and roadsides

• Only two sites found in NH. None yet in Maine.

http://plants.usda.gov

Regional View

11 stands treated in 2010

Many sites pulled over past 4 years. Reduction in coverage noted!

Sprayed in 2008

39% of sites treated in 2010

Pulled in 2010

8 Highway sites treated in 2010

New Hampshire

Great Marsh

Along Mass Highways

Salem Sound

Boston Harbor

Mass Highways Mapping and treatment 2010

Methods of Mapping: On Foot

Franz Inglefinger, Trustees of Reservations, mapping road crossings (2006)

Boy Scouts Essex, MA (2007)

Carry GPS units or paper maps to mark sites.

Starting from roadside points we walked the upland edge and recorded presence of data on data sheets.

Challenges: Method is thorough, but slow!

Where is pepperweed now?Is it threatening agricultural land?

Successful Mapping By Boat:• Easiest after plants have blossomed/gone to seed. •Bring Binoculars.• Covered a lot of territory.• Fun! • Near complete mapping of Great Marsh in 2009-2010

•Large areas of the Great Marsh free of pepperweed!

•Only one site found on Cape Ann (Hodgkins Cove)

•Merrimack River clear in East Haverhill, Merrimac, Groveland, West Newbury.

•Few spots found in Amesbury.

•North Salisbury still clear.

– Some areas are not visible/accessible by boat. Need to go back on foot or kayak to check these areas.

– Some infested areas were not spotted.– Some areas were false positives: need to double

check “maybes” on foot.– Tide dependant.

Challenges of Mapping By Boat

•Look not only on the upland edge but also along creek-banks.•We found pepperweed along Salisbury creek-banks (low salinity) and in Ipswich in areas where there is a tidal restriction.

Phragmites may block pepperweed and slow its spread. Phragmites control may open the door to pepperweed spread.

Phragmites Pepperweed

Need to observed interaction of these species and coordinate treatment.

Challenges

•Assume spread rate of 200m/year in most salt marshes

•1 mile/year along fast moving waterways

200m/Year Rate 1 Mile/Year Rate (4 miles in 4 yrs)

Pepperweed SpreadChallenges

Concern: Citizens may inadvertently spread pepperweed to new areas.

Town Farm Road 5/19/2008

Pulling Pepperweed on Town Farm Road in Ipswich

Citizens collecting salt marsh hay for mulch in pepperweed infested area.

Plan

• Prevent the spread of pepperweed to clear marsh.

• Reduce pepperweed in top priority sites.• Map pepperweed more thoroughly and in

neighboring regions.• Pull pepperweed at sites where landowners

do not want herbicide used

Organize mapping and treatment by creating subregions, and prioritizing by subregion.

Thanks to our Funders…

Partners for Wildlife

Land Management Research & Land Management Research & Demonstration, USFWS Demonstration, USFWS

General ElectricGeneral Electric

Thanks to agencies, organizations and individuals who battled pepperweed in 2010

•Mass Audubon Liz Duff & Lou Wagner, Corey Lynch, Kaileigh Thompson, Laura Hallowell•NH Coastal Program Kevin Lucey & Morgan Eastman•Salem Sound Coastwatch & Barbara Warren•Mass Highways & Tara Mitchell•Eight Towns and the Bay & Peter Phippen•Ipswich High School•Sparhawk High School•Triton Regional High School•FWS & Sarah Janson•General Electric & Volunteer Staff•Lanette Leka

•Dept. of Conservation & Recreation & Heather Warchalowski

•Gulf of Maine Institute, NBPT Team & John Halloran

•Boston Harbor Islands, NPS, Marc Albert & Island Ambassadors

•Beth O’Conner & Ipswich volunteers

•Northeast Massachusetts Mosquito Control and Wetland Management District & Emily Sullivan

•Mike Basso•Sandra Hamilton

•Sherri Malto

•Erin Loughlin

Acknowledgements