Weeders 2006 Review

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Weeders in the Wild participants really get into nature.  To promote biodiversity we take weeding to the fields and woods.  EO Wilson says “On a global basis…the two greatest destroyers of biodiversity are, first habitat destruction and, second, invasion by exotic species”Phragmites patch at West Creek © Terri Martincic

 It’s a big job, and we are seeing progress; this was our second year cutting and spraying Phragmites at West Creek Reservation.   We have removed 2 large sections and in 2007 will go into the fenced in areas by the signal towers.  Phragmites can be 15 feet tall dominating large areas by crowding out native plants, creating a monoculture and it has the largest distribution of any plant in the world.

 We removed invasive Buckthorn shrubs from a Cranberry patch in South Chagrin Reservation.  Cranberry is so rare the Cleveland Metroparks put a fence around it to protect it from the deer.  But the fence didn’t keep out the non native, invasive Buckthorn.  We cleared all the Buckthorn inside the fence and most of it around the fence.  The Cranberry patch once again has room to spread and thrive.

We flagged Lesser Celandine south of Lagoon Picnic Pavilion and pulled Garlic Mustard at Brookside Reservation.  We ventured into the muck to remove Buckthorn at Sandy Ridge Reservation and cut, dug and pulled Japanese Barberry at the Chippewa Picnic Area in Brecksville.

Weeder group © Terri Martincic Last year we had 31 participants in 6 locations.  If time really was money you could say we donated $1,000.00 in free labor.  Weeders in the Wild participants included:  Bill and Nancy Agardy, Stacy Allen, Maribeth Barrett, Carolina and Bob Chandler, Gregory Cznadel, Sonia DiFiore, Dave Dvorak, Ruth Evan, Bob Gardin, Chris Grames, Marilyn Gunsch, John Krock, Duane Kurapka, Dave LeGallee, Cathy Lehn, Terri Martincic, Cal Ochendowski, Dennis Petro, Kim Petro, Tom Pukelnick, John Rob, Tom Romito, Frank Shultz, Mary Ellen Stasek, Adrian Staeven, Heather Triplet, Wendy Weirich, Barb and Nydia.

 


Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave, Cleveland, OH 44109 info@wcasohio.org