By Arianna Zinn

Arianna Zinn interned at the Intervale Center and is a student studying environmental science at the University of Vermont with a minor in geospatial technologies.

The presence of invasive species often goes unnoticed by many, but it is a notable issue that is likely looming in your area. The thought of removing all invasive species can be very daunting, but there are steps that everyone can take to help mitigate this problem. Some methods for removal are actually quite simple and cost-effective, hopefully encouraging communities to partake in strengthening their ecosystem.

What is an invasive species, and why are they harmful?

Before starting the process of removing invasives, it is important to identify what qualifies as an invasive species and what impact they have. As defined by the National Invasive Species Center, “an "invasive species" is a species that is non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.” This term should not be confused with a non-native species, as non-natives do not automatically cause harm to the ecosystem and may even be beneficial to us.

You might be wondering how an invasive species can cause environmental, economic, or human harm. There are many examples in the world that showcase the damage that invasives have done. The New York Times wrote an article about how the state of Hawai’i was impacted by devastating wildfires that caused major damage on the island of Maui. One of the main drivers for the extremely quick spread of the fires was Guinea Grasses. Guinea Grasses are an invasive species that now account for a quarter of Hawaii’s landscape and are highly flammable, which intensified the wildfires on Maui and made it extremely difficult to contain. Another example covered by Knowable Magazine is Burmese Python in Florida and its dominance in the Everglades. Not only are they heavily diminishing the small mammal population, but they also risk increasing the prevalence of the Everglades virus through mosquitoes focusing on other mammals that transmit the virus more frequently.

Now that there is an understanding of the harm invasive species can bring about, it is important to think about the next steps in mitigating their impacts. It is very challenging to tackle invasives on a global level, especially because different regions require different solutions. This is why it is crucial that the invasive problem is tackled on a local level.

The Benefits of Manual Invasive Removal

Invasive removal does not always involve complex methods; in fact, much of invasive removal on a local scale involves manual removal such as pulling, cutting, digging up, and girdling. These methods can be more simple and cost-effective than chemical treatment. With both types of invasive removal, however, it is still important to assess what removal will do to the surrounding environment and what should go in place of the invasives after they are removed. The best part about manual removal is that anyone with the proper tools and identification skills can partake.

Connections with the Community

Manually removing invasives has many benefits, including widening skillsets, gaining familiarity with your environment, and being brought closer to your community. Many invasions of plant species have been prevented due to the public recognizing a non-native species and contacting the proper authorities to take care of it to prevent the species from spreading further. On the Resources Radio podcast episode titled “It Takes a Village: Public Engagement in Invasive Species Detection, with Rebecca Epanchin-Neil,” Rebecca reiterates how important it is for the general public to become familiar with persistent invasive species so the mitigation process can be implemented swiftly. Rebecca also mentions how governments can make an effort to create programs that are easily accessible to anybody who would like to report potential detections of an invasive. Many programs for reporting invasives across the country tend to be inconsistent and can discourage community involvement if it is too difficult to make reports.

An article written by Ana Pinheira, “From Awareness to Action: Citizen Empowerment in Invasive Species Management,” discusses the importance of community engagement and progress made with invasive species. Pinheira writes about a project that is being done in Guimaraes, Portugal, to lessen the spread of Japanese Knotweed, a very persistent invasive in multiple parts of the world. Several different groups in Guimaraes participated in experimenting with methods to remove Japanese Knotweed. The Landscape Laboratory wanted to find alternative methods to using herbicides for invasive removal and working with citizens to do so. The dedication to restoring the ecosystem and utilizing the community to do it has been a great influence on the city as a whole and shows how impactful community engagement is when removing invasives is treated as a responsibility for everyone.

Invasive Management with the Intervale Center

I have had the pleasure of being able to experience the benefits of being educated on invasive species removal by working with the Intervale Center in Burlington, Vermont, to mitigate the spread of invasives within the Intervale. While interning for the Intervale Center, I assisted in removing the most prominent invasives in multiple areas throughout the Intervale, such as Buckthorn, Asiatic Bittersweet, European Spindle, and Multiflora Rose. This was a rewarding experience for me, as I got to work with and for my community in preserving the natural state of the Intervale. As someone who started without experience with invasive removal, I developed a skillset of identifying the most prevalent invasives in the area within only a few months through hands-on learning and working with others. Along with identifying invasive species, I developed a deeper understanding of the ecosystem that I live in and the impact that invasives have on my surroundings. I started recognizing how big a problem invasives were in my day-to-day life by seeing the high abundance of invasive species outside of my work zone and in my own neighborhood. Being able to actively see the issue motivated me even more to put in the effort to mitigate any possible effects invasives may have in my community, and I think if others were more exposed to the opportunity I had, it would drive others to help with invasive treatment as well.

The Intervale Center organizes volunteering events for groups to target and remove certain invasive species. I participated in one of these volunteering opportunities and had a great time while doing impactful work. Like myself at the time, the people in my volunteer group were not experts on invasive species but were still able to remove a great amount of Multiflora Rose from the area we were working on. In just the two hours that I was there, I and thirteen others did an equivalent of nine hours of labor in our work area. The amount that was accomplished in those hours exhibits how effective the community is when it comes to tackling the challenge of invasives. Not only was I learning more about invasives, but I was also able to connect with others in my community by going to this event and interacting with other volunteers, which is something I do not get the opportunity to do often.

A map showing the treatment areas throughout the intervale indicated by green and yellow polygons. Each polygon has details of treatment and date/time treated

The Intervale Center works to fulfill one of its goals of ecosystem restoration through the help of a survey form that is meant to be used by multiple organizations and their volunteers, staff, and interns for logging invasive species and treatment areas. The treatment areas involved details of what kind of treatment (pulling, cutting, girdling, dug up) was done and which species were treated, as well as how much time was devoted to each species. The goal of the survey form is to be as user-friendly as possible while highlighting the amount of progress that has been made on treating invasives. The work of invasive treatment is largely accelerated by the public volunteering, which is why community engagement is so crucial in preventing the spread of invasives.

The next step for the Intervale Center is developing new methods for future interns to show treatment progress and create a general assessment of the landscape to determine which areas are a high priority for treatment. The Intervale Center is also making efforts to prevent the reintroduction of invasive species in areas where they were already removed by planting native species and placing fascines in the open areas where invasives once were.

Much of the success of invasive management involves the community and spreading awareness of the issue. Doing this internship with the Intervale Center made me feel a responsibility for the environment, and I think it is important that this sense of environmental responsibility is instilled in other communities as well. The work that the Intervale Center is doing is a great example of community engagement and how this is necessary if we ever want to come close to achieving the complete removal of invasive species. The efforts that have been made by the community already have a big impact on the progress made in Burlington and can be applied to other places around the world to achieve the same effectiveness.

References:

Hayes, K. (2021). It takes a village: Public engagement in invasive species detection, with Rebecca Epanchin-Niell. Resources for the Future. https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/it-takes-a-village-public-engagement- in-invasive-species-detection-with-rebecca-epanchin-niell/

Pinheira, A. (2023, October 9). From awareness to action: Citizen empowerment in Invasive Species Management. The Nature of Cities. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2023/10/09/from-awareness-to-action-citizen- empowerment-in-invasive-species-management/

Romero, S., & Kovaleski, S. F. (2023, August 13). How invasive plants caused the Maui fires to rage. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/13/us/hawaii-wildfire-factors.html

USDA. (n.d.). What are invasive species?. What are Invasive Species? | National Invasive Species Information Center. https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/what-are-invasive-species

Zimmer, K. (2024, May 30). Invasive species are transforming the Everglades. Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews. https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2024/how-to-save-the-everglades

Invasive Species: How Community Engagement is Vital for Invasive Species Removal and the Environment