Week 6: Invasive plant removal:
“Are you ready? Always!” Firefly
PART II.
IDENTIFICATION of a plant is
critical for appropriate treatment and data collection. At the seedling stage,
plants look quite alike. After weeks in the field, your eyes get familiar to
the appearance for a given plant by its leaves, stem, shape, color and texture.
Also, some have a distinctive smell such as the peppery Coronopus didymus
(CORDID, lesser swinecress). You would be amazed how much your brain can
register. Memory after the 20 year mark does not decline that much! Of course,
some questions come up. Hesitations are then relayed to our field camp leaders
who master the plant populations. I cannot stress enough that a 20/20 color
vision is required for this work! Talking about vision, a plant is often
obstructed by the vegetation, from some invasive Lobularia maritima ground
covers (LOBMAR, Sweet Alyssum), to the native Kawelu (Eragrostis variabilis,
ERAVAR), and trees with their full attire - branches and leaves. Let’s not
forget insects that can easily divert your attention, such as spiders, beetles,
wasps and ticks. Nature does not offer you the red carpet for sure. Some trails
were cut to access an RA or others were made from the last visit but you often
end up making your own path. Paths quickly disappear weeks after, filled up by some
new growth. That’s actually good news for us because the new growth offers
shade to the ground which slows down invasive plants. You also educate your
eyes to look in every single direction, from the right to the left, from the
top to the ground, under grasses, leaves and branches, where invasive plants
often hide. After some weeks in the field, you kind of feel where they would
find refuge. To fight the enemy, you need to understand its strengths!
Obstacles are also made by the wildlife. Look before you step on the ground if
there is an accumulation of branches that could indicate a Wedge-tailed
shearwater nest, or look for some Sooty tern eggs that lay bare on the ground.
Look for burrows, underground nests made by Bonin petrels that are often identified
by a simple hole in the ground and a pile of fresh sand, which indicates the
“entrance”. You should ALWAYS step in front of the hole, or you would
inevitably drop in the unseen tunnel that can extend 6 feet long and get as
deep as your knee! At head’s height and above, watch for White tern eggs and
chicks that live on a branch without any nesting material. If you slightly move
it, they can fall! Often, you hear the bird before you come too close to them
such as the piercing noise of the Red-tailed tropicbird (even a chick!). You
sense the decayed egg-like smell of the Red-footed booby nest covered by their
white poop. Look also up in open areas to avoid the Laysan Albatross flying low
when the winds are weak. They won’t stop for you and you better freeze or squat
down fast! You should always keep a wide berth around any bird. Some are more
docile than others. All of your senses are always in constant alert, everything
is somehow unexpected out here where Nature governs. It teaches you to proceed
with tasks slowly in order to process your surroundings and act accordingly.
Before Kure, I was always on the fast line and multi-tasking. I still catch
myself walking too fast, but the Albatross remind me to walk like a bird,
slowly but surely!
ORIENTATION is key while working in
the field where vegetation can easily obstruct the horizon and your coworkers.
Cardinal points and target locations such as the Main House, the Runway, such
tree or bird nest, help to describe where you are located. Forget about right or
left, they are meaningless here. Technology comes in very handy in the name of
a handheld GPS unit with an integrated GIS software. You better love this new
gadget! It has in its memory limits of each RA’s borders and waypoints. These
waypoints refer to different events such as invasive plant outbreaks, a bird
nest or any unusual wildlife activity that were recorded the last seasons and
can modify your work. The data are uploaded to provide a map distribution of
such events. When treating an RA, each person spreads out at an even spacing
along one of its borders. The two furthest persons will frame the portion to be
covered and determine the workflow. The Leader is always at the border of an
RA. The Flagger marks the coverage of the treated area with stake flags, only
if the RA cannot be completed in one sweep. Otherwise, that person follows the
border opposite to the Leader. Parameters such as the shape, size, terrain,
dirtiness, number of persons involved or the weather have an impact in
strategizing the coverage of an RA. Each person is responsible for an area to
be covered, checking each portion of ground, zigzagging between his two side
limits. Overlapping your neighbor’s line is recommended. Typically, things got
missed just right where you stand! As a team, we always got each others back!
In dense vegetation, where you can barely see one another, COMMUNICATION using
personal radio plays a crucial role. We are constantly checking on each other.
Good news is when you hear: “Roger”, “Copy that”! Your orientation is
challenged when everything around you is trees. Your GPS records your track,
which helps to go back to the location you stopped or makes sure to not miss
any seed bank waypoints or portion of land. Remember also that your next visit
will be more likely in four to six weeks, you don’t want to miss an invasive
plant that will flower and eventually drop seeds! If the population of an
invasive plant is dense or “dirty” and/or the terrain to maneuver is difficult,
the spacing between each other will be tighter than wide. When arriving at an
RA, we first discussed the treatment strategies and make sure that everyone is
connected by radio, got its direction and orientation right.
Next, I will explain how we remove
invasive plants and how we plan it.
Stand by :)
Virginie
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