The tail end of summer may be upon us, but the field season continues in full force!
Above, the AISF crew leads an informational and demonstration table at the LH PRISM Partner meeting held on July 20 at Scenic Hudson's Long Dock Park in Beacon, NY.

Left/Above: AISF crew conduct a visual survey of a lake in Orange County for aquatic vegetation and the northern cricket frog.
Right/Below: The endangered northern cricket frog (can you see the tiny guy in the middle of the photo on top of the vegetation?).

Recently, endangered species conservation and invasive species management converged for our Aquatics Invasives Strike Force (AISF) crew. In 2019, the AISF crew managed an infestation of invasive water chestnut at a lake in Orange County. This year, the crew planned to return to complete surveys via rake toss as well as pull out any remaining water chestnut. However, after conducting a bit of research, Aquatic Invasive Species Program Coordinator, Devin DiGiacopo, Ph.D., discovered that this lake was, in fact, home to the endangered northern cricket frog! 

The northern cricket frog is one of New York’s smallest vertebrates at only 1 inch in length. Listed as an endangered species in the state, this particular frog predominantly utilizes aquatic vegetation as both its habitat and breeding ground. 

With assistance from NYS  Department of Environmental Conservation Wildlife Technician, Callie Barth-Dwyer, the AISF crew ventured to a lake in Orange County, NY, to determine whether there was an overlap between an invasive water chestnut infestation and northern cricket frog breeding territory.

After completing a visual survey of the lake and after determining the densely (and natively!) vegetated south end was premier cricket frog habitat, the crew waited until after sunset to conduct a frog call survey. 

During the survey, the crew heard a cacophony of sounds including green frogs, gray tree frogs, bullfrogs, and, of course, northern cricket frogs! The high presence of cricket frogs in this native plant-populated area of the lake was encouraging - hopefully signifying a lack of overlap between this frog's breeding grounds and water chestnut growth. With this data set, the AISF crew can now work on a management plan that ensures this tiny amphibian has continued success at this site.

Left/Above: Small whorled pogonia. Right/Below: Conservation Dog, Peat, and Conservation Dogs Program Coordinator, Arden Blumenthal, hunt for this endangered species. Photo credit: Kathleen Walz, NJ DEP

The Conservation Dogs Program has partnered with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Natural Heritage Program (NJ NHP) and the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust (NJ NLT) to find a rare, native orchid; small whorled pogonia. Small whorled pogonia (Isotria medeoloides) is federally listed as threatened and state listed as endangered in New Jersey and New York. This charming plant has waxy, grey-green colored leaves which form a whorl at the top of a delicate stem that, at most, measures 10 inches high. The fragile and understated appearance of this plant combined with its rarity pose incredible challenges for the botanists surveying them. In light of these challenges, NJ NHP and NJ NLT ecologists have enlisted the help of the NYNJTC Conservation Dogs Program to aid in their surveying process. 

The NYNJTC Conservation Dogs Program hopes to assist the state in establishing the size of existing populations, surveying areas where populations were found historically, and searching for new areas with suitable habitats. Together, they hope to establish the viability of using detection dog teams to enhance small whorled pogonia surveys. With better, more accurate surveying, biologists can improve predictions about habitat suitability, learn more about the plant’s biology, and more effectively target conservation efforts. The project’s success is currently being evaluated. At the very least, the teams have helped develop critical training and search protocols and methods that can help guide future rare plant projects.  

Left/above: Seasonal staff and interns gave lightning presentations during last month's PRISM partner meeting followed by a mixer where they were able to meet with professionals from our partner organizations. Right/below: Our AISF crew demonstrate a rake toss for meeting attendees in the Hudson River.

Last month, Lower Hudson PRISM held its partner meeting at Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park! The meeting focused on aquatic invasive species (AIS) along with their respective management projects.

The first half of the meeting was dedicated to highlighting the great work being done by interns and seasonal staff in the Lower Hudson PRISM region. This included "lightning presentations" by seasonal staff and interns, followed by a mixer where they could meet and network with other professionals in attendance (and each other!).

The second half of the meeting focused on aquatic invasive species with informative presentations by various partners including NYSDEC's Steve Pearson who gave an update on northern snakehead, NYSDEC's Richard Pendleton who provided information on round goby, and SOLitude's Nicole White and NYC DEP's Meredith Taylor who offered details on hydrilla's presence and management practices in the region. All three of these species are being tackled with a sense of urgency and care to prevent further spread throughout the lower Hudson Valley.

Patrick Fitzgerald, an intern with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Rockland County who received an SLF-focused subcontract with Lower Hudson PRISM, checks SLF traps in Orangeburg, NY.

In the fall of 2021, our Invasives Strike Force team, together with state agency partners and our incredible volunteers, took on the challenge of tackling spotted lanternfly (SLF) populations in New York State. This year, the fight continues on. Not only have SLF and tree of heaven become incorporated into our community science surveys, but we have also been hard at work deploying SLF traps in previously known infestation areas and at sites where new reports are coming in this year. To date, the Trail Conference has installed over 100 traps across 11 locations in New York State, in addition to what NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets and USDA have also installed. These traps alone have thus far eliminated over 2,600 SLF nymphs (immature) from the environment. In the past week, we are also seeing adult stage SLF, so be on the lookout!  

Orangeburg remains our largest infestation site and a critical testing ground for whether SLF can be truly knocked back through a combination of treatments (pesticides, vegetation removal, egg scraping, trap setting and squashing) once the bug has already become firmly established in an area. It is still too early to tell but initial returns suggest that our “all-in” efforts in the fall of 2021 have significantly reduced the population. We will continue trapping through November when we will have a firmer understanding of whether the efforts are an efficient use of resources moving forward. The other sites are much more on the early detection and rapid response end of the spectrum and we are pleased with what we are seeing. Our trap catches and surveys in Kakiat County Park near Harriman and Deer Park and Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, for example, are finding only a handful of SLF, suggesting our rapid response to these areas provide hope for local eradication.  Thank you again to all of our volunteers in this effort! 

Black (& pale) swallow-wort are voracious vines that wrap around - or strangle - other plants as well as themselves - earning the lovely name of "dog-strangling vine." 

During the month of August, flowers are no longer this plant’s key ID feature. Instead. you’ll be looking for their long, slender seed pods that kind of resemble string beans on a vine.

So be on the lookout for black (& pale) swallow-wort this month next time you are out and about walking your dog, on your favorite hike or having a picnic. And please don't forget to post to iNaturalist! We need help reporting this sneaky invader!