October 26, 2008
Purple Loosestrife Monitoring
The Cambridge Water Department and Friends of Fresh Pond Reservation have collaborated since 2006 on a project to control the spread of the invasive wetland plant, Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) in a wetland near Little Fresh Pond. In the spring of 2007, 5000 Galerucella beetles, which live on and eat only L. salicaria, were released in the wetland.
During today's program, participants measured and counted stems on the Loosestrife plants to determine whether the beetles have had an impact. An obvious difference is that the plants are shorter than they were in the fall of 2006 and 2007.