Members of AYLUS Syosset, Great neck, Dix hills and Roslyn and advisors from the Stewardship Saturday program worked together to pull out large amounts of invasive plants in Bethpage State Park. Inside the park, there are large areas of shrubs and plants that act as habitats for many local bird, small animal, reptile and plant species. However, the place has been recently invaded by invasive plants that have ravaged the populations of native plants and have no natural predators, thus allowing them to reproduce uncontrollably. Native plants such as peppergrass have been taken over by invasive species like Japanese honeysuckle vines and mugwort. Excessive amounts of mugwort span across extremely large areas of this land and members were able to remove a good portion of it. Mugwort is commonly used as a traditional medicine and tea, however in New York it is a prevalent invasive plant that prevents the native plants from receiving ample sunlight. As it originates from Europe and Asia, it spreads its seeds rapidly through its rhizomes.
Members participated include:
Alyssa Huang (2.5 h), Sophia Liu (2.5 h), Suiying Li (2.5 h), Suiwai Li (2.5 h), Canwei Wen (2.5 h), Rachel Wang (2.5 h), Charles Qin (2.5 h), Haoyu Qiu (2.5 h), Xihan Zhang (2.5 h), Xiye Zhang (2.5 h), Matthew Lin (2.5 h, Stuyvesant HS), Guangli Yang (2.5h, advisor), and other parents.
