|
Home | Detectives | Suspects | Background Check | Kids' Headquarters | Top Desk Administrator | Case Files |
|
|
Hydrilla verticillata
|
THE CRIMES:Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) forms a dense mat of vegetation in the water. The hydrilla mats raise the pH, provide poor habitat for fish or other wildlife, limit water movement, decrease available oxygen, and shade out other aquatic plants. Boaters, people who fish, swimmers and water skiers get tangled in the dense mats of hydrilla. Hydrilla out competes native plant species and clogs essential waterways. It can alter water chemistry and oxygen levels in the water. DESCRIPTION:Hydrilla is a water plant which looks like elodea and contains a long stem with many branches. It is different from other similar looking water plants due to the presence of buds (turions) and tubers at the end of the underground stems (rhizomes). The female flowers contain three translucent (see-through) petals and the male flowers have three whitish or reddish petals. Hydrilla is a submersed plant with long, thin stems that branch across the water's surface. It has small, pointed leaves that are saw-toothed. Hydrilla is rough to the touch. The Interrogation
Where are you from?
I come from warm waters of Asia, Africa, and Australia.
How did you get here?
I first got to people's aquariums in Miami and Tampa, Florida in
the late 1950s. By the 1970s, I had taken over the entire state. By tangling myself in
boat motors and trailers I can make my way into new waters all over North America.
Sometimes I will hitch a ride in the mail with water lilies. People plant the
water lilies and I escape and take over.
What’s your problem?
I have found numerous ways to disrupt an ecosystem. I first develop
deep in the water where I go unnoticed. Then I creep to the surface where I branch out
and form large mats. Once in a large mat I clog waterways making recreational activities
such as swimming, fishing, waterskiing and boating virtually impossible. These mats also
cause a lot of problems for the water and animals that live in it. I out compete native
plants by blocking the sunlight that they need. My thick mats are bad habitat for fish
because I suck all the oxygen out of the water. Mosquitoes may breed in the stagnant
water around me.
How can we control you?
I bring havoc to all of the Gulf states. Florida alone spends millions
of dollars a year to try to keep me under control. There are several methods that work pretty
well in keeping me in check. By drawing down water from lakes I have infested, I will be
exposed to the air and will die. You humans have tried to kill me by releasing bugs and fish
that eat me into the water. You have also tried to get rid of me by using mechanical harvesting
machines like choppers. However I am wise to your ways, and if you allow my chopped fragments
to get back into water I may actually grow bigger and stronger than before.
The best thing you can do to control me is make sure that I am not hiding on your boat motor or trailer when you leave the water. This will keep me from spreading into new waters.
REWARD:
The satisfaction that you are protecting and preserving Gulf waters.
|