June 10th 2023 9:30am-12:00 Members of AYLUS Syosset participated in invasive plant species removal at Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center with AYLUS Great Neck and the Stewardship Saturday Program. Roughly a decade ago, what is now the Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center used to be a parking lot. Since then, a large portion of the parking lot has been rebuilt into a garden. Although the garden started off as only housing native species, prevalent invasive nonnatives began to populate the ground as well. These plants mainly include the two species which we removed today: mugwort and phragmites. For Syosset AYLUS members, mugwort is a plant we commonly deal with. 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 and outcompetes native species. Similarly, phragmites reduce native species’ success, reduce native wildlife populations and provide habitats for mosquitoes. When in water, phragmites reduce wild fish populations. When members pulled large amounts of phragmites out of the garden beds, the plants were often connected to each other via their strong and thick roots, which span large areas and are difficult to completely get rid of. However, it is important to note that even though it is close to impossible for us to completely eradicate these invasive species and their root systems, it is still weakening these plants and giving time for native species to repopulate the area.
Members participated include:
Alyssa Huang (2.5 h), Suiying Li (2.5 h), Suiwai Li (2.5 h), Canwei Wen (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), Rachel Zhang (2.5 h) Yueshuya Tang (2.5 h), Guangli Yang (advisor 2.5 h).
