This article was featured in the 2022 Winter Newsletter by Robert Smith- SLELO PRISM Terrestrial Restoration & Resiliency Coordinator
2021 Early Detection Field Survey Results
Results of last summer’s field season showed the presence of nine of the 10 invasive species that we have seen during previous surveys. Yellow Iris was the only tier invasive species that was not present at any of the six PCAs. Of the 109 HPAs, 82 were found to have one or more tier invasive species. Little John WMA and the Tug Hill ISPZ had the lowest percentages of HPAs with tier invasive species at 57.1% and 61.9% respectively, while Mud Bay had the highest percentage with invasive species found at all HPAs. We found the fewest number of invasive species at French Creek at 2 species and the greatest number of invasive species at Upper & Lower Lakes with 7 species. The field report that includes this information can now be found on the SLELO PRISM Website.
Photos From the Field
2021 Bark & Ambrosia Beetle Survey Results
Last spring, we were asked to assist the DEC in conducting an early detection survey for new arrivals of bark and ambrosia beetle species. We set up three bark and ambrosia beetle traps at Rainbow Shore Preserve. Every two weeks for a period of 12 weeks, we collected and sent all insects found to the DEC for identification. Recently, we received the results of the identification work. From the twelve sites that were surveyed, 16,176 specimens were collected.
72 species were identified from this collection. Of the 72, eighteen were non-native species. All species were previously detected in North America and New York. For just Rainbow Shores, twenty-six species were found, eight of which were non-native. Non-native species did appear to be prevalent in this survey, with six of the top ten species at all twelve sites being non-native. Rainbow Shores, by itself, was only slightly better with five of the top ten species being non-native. The top three, which were all non-native, accounted for most of the beetles found on site (88%). To our knowledge, none of the species found in this survey are of significant concern and we will alert our partners if a species of concern arrives in the area.
Photos From the Field
2022 HWA Surveys
We are currently conducting Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) surveys. This year, we selected 14 sites to survey, and two sites, Altmar and Chateaugay State Forest will be surveyed if time permits. For those who haven’t heard, HWA was recently found at Selkirk Shores State Park. We are reacting to this recent find with the addition of surveys directly around this site. These include Deer Creek WMA, Derby Hill Bird Observatory, Sandy Creek State Forest, and Trout Brook State Forest. As usual, we will alert members of the SLELO PRISM community if we find HWA at any of these sites.
Photos From the Field
