Aquatic Plants of the Three Lakes
Chris Doyle, CLM
Senior Aquatic Biologist/Water Quality Program Supervisor
Allied Biological, Inc.
580 Rockport Road Hackettstown, NJ 07840
Phone: 908-850-0303
E-mail: [email protected]
Trace
Sparse
• Based on Point Intercept Methods
• Developed by Cornell University
• Standard Weed Anchor Used
• Two 13” wide metal rakes attached back to back
• 10 meter rope
• Two Rake Tosses per Site
• Sites GPS-referenced
•Midtech RX 400p GPS Receiver
•Smartpad II (Ver. 4.02) Data Logger
• Standard Plant Densities Used
• Submersed and floating plant densities separated
• All plants identified to species (if possible)
• All plants digitally photographed
Medium
Rake Toss Methods
Survey Conducted August 6 & 7, 2008 (~17 hours on the water)
Dense
• Voucher specimens collected to verify field identification
Factors Affecting the 2008 Survey
 Littoral Zone
 Usually defined as >15 feet
 Limited at the Three Lakes

Restricted to shoreline zones,
East and West ends of lakes, and shallow coves
 Rocks
 Restricted the retrieval of the weed anchors
 Two anchor tosses per site

Methodology tends to result in increased occurrence,
but a decrease in overall density
 Hand Pulling
 Alters aquatic plant assemblage
 Canal Sampling
 One anchor toss per site
The Aquatic Plants of the Three Lakes
Aquatic Macrophyte
Scientific Name
Arrowhead (rosette)
Bass Weed
Sagittaria sp.
Potamogeton amplifolius
Benthic filamentous Algae
Brazilian Elodea
Brittle Naiad
Common Waterweed
Coontail
Creeping Bladderwort
Curly-leaf Pondweed
Dwarf Water Milfoil
Eurasian Water Milfoil
Flat-stem Pondweed
Egeria densa
Najas minor
Elodea canadensis
Lake
Waccabuc
X
X
X
X
Potamogeton zosteriformis
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Leafy Pondweed
Ribbon-leaf Pondweed
Robbins Pondweed
Spatterdock
Spiral-fruited Pondweed
Potamogeton foliosus
X
X
Stonewort
Water Stargrass
Watershield
Water-thread Pondweed
White Water Lily
Nitella sp.
Zosterella dubia
Brasenia schreberi
Ceratophyllum demersum
Utricularia gibba
Potamogeton crispus
Myriophyllum tenellum
Myriophyllum spicatum
Floating Filamentous Algae
Potamogeton epihydrus
Potamogeton robbinsii
Nuphar variegata
Potamogeton spirillus
X
X
X
X
Potamogeton diversifolius
Nymphaea odorata
X
Lake
Oscaleta
X
X
X
Lake
Rippowam
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Eurasian water milfoil
• Myriophyllum spicatum
• Aggressive, exotic
•Most common aquatic plant found during 2008 survey
• Tolerates a wide range of substrate types
• Creates canopies at surface to shade out other plants
• Monoculture stands reduce aquatic biota diversity
• Reproduces via fragmentation (but seeds and roots, too)
Pondweeds
• Diverse group of aquatic plants
• Most are desirable natives
• Create excellent fish habitat,
cover, and food sources
• Most are prolific seed producers
• Robbins Pondweed creates dense
bottom cover
Bass Weed (Potamogeton amplifolius)
Robbins Pondweed (Potamogeton robbinsii)
Pondweeds (con’t)
• Leafy Pondweed (P. foliosus)
• Fine leaves, low growing
• Often crowded out by invasives
• Ribbon-leaf Pondweed (P. epihydrus)
• Produces floating leaves
• Flat-stem Pondweed (P. zosteriformis)
• Easily confused with water stargrass
Ribbon-leaf Pondweed (P. epihydrus)
Leafy Pondweed (P. foliosus)
Flat-stemPondweed (P. zosteriformis)
Pondweeds (con’t)
Curly-leaf Pondweed (P. crispus)
• Aggressive, exotic plant
• Native to Europe
• Early season grower
• Naturally dies back in June-July
• Produces pine cone-like turions
• Can overwinter under the ice
• Very common throughout New York
Waterweeds
• Brazilian Elodea (Egeria densa)
• Aggressive, Exotic
• Discovered in Lake Waccabuc
• Isolated in cove
• First documented infestation in
Westchester county
• Likely the result of an aquarium
dump (2-3 years ago?)
• 2009 Eradication Program
• 4 to 6 leaves in whorl
• Common Waterweed (Elodea
canadensis)
• Desirable native, very common
• Questionable identification?
• 3 leaves in whorl
Coontail
• Ceratophyllum demersum
• Very common submersed plant in NY
• Lacks a true root system
• Can move around basin
• Can also be loosely anchored via
modified leaves
• Desirable native species
• But can reach nuisance densities
• “Coontail Pods” used by pond
managers as a nutrient sink
• Leaves arranged in a whorl (5-12)
•Typically stiff and calcified
Arrowhead
• Actually an emergent plant, found along
the shoreline
• Submersed rosettes recovered during
survey
• Difficult to determine species from rosette
• Excellent wildlife habitat and food source
• Stabilizes the shoreline and acts as a
nutrient buffer
Dwarf water milfoil
• Myriophyllum tenellum
• Related to Eurasian water milfoil
• Uncommon in NY
• But often overlooked
• Slender, unbranched stems
• 2-15 cm tall
• Leaves reduced to scales
• Excellent sediment stabilizer
• Often creates a dense carpet on bottom
• Prefers shallow water with sandy
substrate
Stonewort
• Nitella sp.
• Actually, a multi-branched algae
• Shares the ecological niche of
other macrophytes
Creeping
Bladderwort
• Utricularia gibba
• Only bladderwort collected in 2008
• Lacks true roots
• Bladders used to capture prey
•Protozoa, insect larvae
Water Lilies
• Leaves float on the surface
• Provide shade and cover
• Can reach nuisance density
• Reproduce via rhizomes
Three species observed at the Three Lakes during 2008 survey
• White Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata)
• Round leaves with prominent notch; white flower
• Watershield (Brasenia schreberi)
• Underside and stem covered with gelatinous mucus; tiny purple flower
• Spatterdock (Nuphar variegata)
• Large oval leaves; also called yellow lily
Additional Aquatic Plants
Lake Waccabuc 2008 Aquatic Plant Distribution
Aquatic Macrophyte
Total
Sites
Total Submersed
Vegetation
Eurasian water milfoil
Benthic Filamentous algae
Bass weed
Coontail
Robbins Pondweed
Creeping Bladderwort
Flat-stem Pondweed
Arrowhead Rosette
Common Waterweed
Leafy Pondweed
Dwarf Watermilfoil
Curly-leaf Pondweed
Spiral-fruited Pondweed
Brazilian Elodea
Total Floating Vegetation
Watershield
White Water Lily
Floating Filamentous Algae
Spatterdock
Total Abundance Trace Abundance Sparse Abundance Medium Abundance Dense Abundance
Sites
114
95
91
36
34
21
14
8
4
4
3
2
2
1
1
1
62
40
31
19
16
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
83%
80%
32%
30%
18%
12%
7%
4%
4%
3%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
54%
35%
27%
17%
14%
24
36
23
22
8
13
7
4
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
23
20
19
10
9
25%
40%
64%
65%
38%
93%
88%
100%
100%
67%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
37%
50%
61%
53%
56%
53
47
11
8
9
56%
52%
31%
24%
43%
14
8
2
4
3
1
1
15%
9%
6%
12%
14%
7%
13%
4
4%
1
5%
1
33%
18
11
6
6
6
29%
28%
19%
32%
38%
17
9
5
3
1
27%
23%
16%
16%
6%
4
6%
1
3%
Lake Oscaleta 2008 Aquatic Plant Distribution
Aquatic Macrophyte
Total Abundance Trace Abundance Sparse Abundance
Sites
Medium Abundance
Dense Abundance
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
5
9%
Total Sites
Total Submersed
Vegetation
60
53
88%
20
38%
17
32%
11
21%
Eurasian water milfoil
40
67%
18
45%
10
25%
12
30%
Bass weed
28
47%
19
68%
5
18%
4
14%
Coontail
25
42%
13
52%
9
36%
3
12%
Robbins Pondweed
19
32%
10
53%
7
37%
1
5%
1
5%
Creeping Bladderwort
10
17%
9
90%
1
10%
Arrowhead Rosette
8
13%
8
100%
Common Waterweed
4
7%
3
75%
1
25%
Ribbon-leaf Pondweed
Benthic Filamentous
Algae
3
5%
2
67%
1
33%
1
2%
1
100%
Stonewort
1
2%
1
100%
Leafy Pondweed
1
2%
1
100%
Total Floating Vegetation
52
87%
15
29%
19
37%
10
19%
8
15%
White Water Lily
41
68%
16
39%
10
24%
7
17%
8
20%
Spatterdock
26
43%
13
50%
11
42%
2
8%
Watershield
12
20%
9
75%
3
25%
Lake Oscaleta: Bass Weed vs. Eurasian Watermilfoil
Robust bass weed beds are
limiting the Eurasian water
milfoil distribution at the
East and West Ends of Lake
Oscaleta? (2003)
What about in 2008?
Lake Rippowam 2008 Aquatic Plant Distribution
Aquatic Macrophyte
Total
Abundance
Sites
Trace Abundance Sparse Abundance Medium Abundance Dense Abundance
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
Sites
%
Total Sites
45
Total Submersed Vegetation
24
53%
22
92%
1
4%
1
4%
Eurasian Water milfoil
24
53%
22
92%
1
4%
1
4%
Benthic Filamentous Algae
3
7%
3
100%
Total Floating Vegetation
24
53%
9
38%
8
33%
7
29%
White Water Lily
21
47%
7
33%
8
38%
6
29%
Floating Filamentous Algae
7
16%
7
100%
Spatterdock
6
13%
5
83%
1
17%
Note: Only one true submersed plant: Eurasian water milfoil
Sites
%
Questions?