Aquatic Weed Control | Biological Doesn’t Equal Green!
Friday, August 8th, 2008
The best “green” aquatic weed control.
The very best, “greenest” method of controlling any pest, animal or vegetable is prevention. In terms of aquatic weeds that means a lot. If you can prevent anything, it is much better than treating or managing it later. That should be a “given”. Avoiding infestation by being vigilant in inspection and cleaning of boating equipment, making sure that there is a sufficient amount of suspended algae in the water to prevent sunlight from reaching the bottom, and if needed, and practical, raising the water level, or making the edges deeper by excavation are all good prevention measures.
Is biological control always “green”?
Often, biological controls for insects and weeds are considered “green,” just because they are biological and not chemical. This is not always the case. You have to look more deeply into the anatomy of the situation. A biological control is most often a natural predator from the plants native area. If the plant we are trying to rid ourselves of is an exotic, we are introducing another exotic into our native environment.
Most of these are studied by our top scientists to insure that they will be safe, but there is always a chance that an unknown factor could be missed, or that the situation could change, and that the new predator we have introduced to get rid of the problem, becomes a problem itself! As far as biodiversity is concerned, biological controls may be the least environmentally friendly.
What is the “green” potential for other methods of dealing with aquatic weeds? The answer might surprise you!
What about mechanical control?
Mechanical controls that cause fragmentation can cause the spread of most aquatic plants therefore, from the biodiversity standpoint, they are problematic. If done properly with the proper equipment, and at the right stage, they can be very helpful.
Chemical control.
Oddly, chemical controls, though seen as the least environmentally acceptable form of control by many, may pose the least threat to the environment. Unlike the biological controls which might have some unknown factors, chemical controls are a known quantity and can be handled accordingly. They are less likely to cause the infestation to spread than mechanical controls.