Environmentalists are declaring victory after a population-growth control technique successfully eradicated most, if not all, remnants of an invasive aquatic plant from part of the floor of Emerald Bay near Swim Beach. Using a similar technique to kill invasive Asian clams, a partnership of local environmental agencies installed large swathes of bottom barriers to curtail the growth of Eurasian watermilfoil in Lake Tahoe.
In June, a partnership including Tahoe Resource Conservation District, California Department of Parks and Recreation and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency placed more than 8,500 square feet of bottom barriers, according to Kim Boyd, Invasive Species manager at the conservation district.
Equipment used: Hess sampler with 500 mesh netting. Area sampled: 0.256 m2 per sample, and three replicate samples are taken at each site. Subsampling: approx. 10-15% of samples must be halved due to richness, but counts over 200 are maintained whenever possible. Taxonomic level: to genus and species, except for Diptera chironomids, which are identified to subfamily or tribe level. Oligochaetes are identified to family level.
QA: Type specimens are confirmed by Idaho State University, Stream Ecology Center; Type specimen collection established and archived to demonstrate past id's and for future verification of specimens. Library of general and taxon specific texts and monographs for sample handling, collection and identification. Bibliography of texts, keys, monographs, etc. are available.
Analysis/metrics: Idenfication and enumeration of invertebrates and invertebrate biomass determinations. No metrics are applied.
