[NatureNS] Frog Pond (Halifax) - Non-native Aquatic - Fanwort (Cabomba sp.)

From: "Dusan Soudek" <soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 16:31:30 -0400
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Two obvious sources are defecating dogs on Frog Pond Trail and the 
unnaturally high numbers of water fowl that some visitors insist on feeding. 
I don't remember ever seeing an algal bloom in the summer on Frog Pond.
Dusan Soudek

-----Original Message----- 
From: Nicholas Hill
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 3:51 PM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Frog Pond (Halifax) - Non-native Aquatic - Fanwort 
(Cabomba sp.)

Yes, and we used to drink it in winter playing hockey. Where would the
high levels of coliform come from?

On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 3:18 PM, Dusan Soudek <soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca> 
wrote:
>   Interestingly, the Frog Pond watershed is still largely forested, as 
> much
> of it is located within the Sir Sanford Fleming Park. And the entire
> shoreline of the pond, with the exception of where it touches Purcells 
> Cove
> Road and a few lookoffs off the Frog Pond Trail, remains undeveloped. This
> is quite unusual for HRM's urban and suburban water bodies, most of which
> have experienced some degree of eutrophication....
>   Dusan Soudek
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Nicholas Hill
> Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 12:04 PM
> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Frog Pond (Halifax) - Non-native Aquatic - Fanwort
> (Cabomba sp.)
>
>
> Something must be out of kilter in the Frog Pond; Invasive plants for
> the most part, are indicators of a disrupted nutrient or disturbance
> regime. The aquatic exotics do us a favour by pointing out lakes with
> ecological health problems. The apparent outbreak of Cabomba
> caroliniana at Frog Pond may be linked to a decline in that lake's
> water quality.  Coliform warning was given in 2008 (HRM data) for
> coliforms around 800 MPN/100mL ...in summer 2009 no exact figures were
> available..in summer 2010, levels spiked to 3500 MPN/100mL  (the
> highest in HRM?) and in 2011, levels were down to 600MPN range.
>
> It should be reason for concern and an opportunity to track imbalances
> in the signs of health in lakes and this plant should reasonably, also
> be in Whimsical Lake if that lake has gone through the same water
> quality disruptions. The plant is the warning of imbalance. Instead of
> a purple bladderwort growth or the native floating heart, we get
> Cabomba, doing the same as these other plants but doing it more
> effectively when there is more nutrient in the water or at lower
> oxygen levels in more stress. Recall the outbreak of the "invasive"
> yellow floating heart. THis was not a biodiversity crisis but rather a
> sign that something was out of kilter.
>
> Nick
>
> below attached from HRM 2008
>
>
>
>
>
> Public Service Announcement
>
> Frog Pond and Whimsical Lake Water Quality Advisory
>
> Friday, September 5, 2008 - The public is advised that ecological
> water quality samples taken August 25th at Whimsical Lake and the Frog
> Pond has detected faecal coliform bacteria levels exceeding provincial
> and federal recreational/swimming guidelines.
>
> Whimsical Lake and the Frog Pond are not HRM supervised beaches.
>
> These water test samples are taken as part of HRM's on-going
> ecological water sampling program to help give long term data as to
> the health of 62 sampled lakes and are not part of the weekly sampling
> program undertaken at HRM's supervised beaches.
>
> On Sun, Dec 28, 2014 at 4:20 PM, Dusan Soudek <soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca>
> wrote:
>>
>> This afternoon I had a chance to visit Frog Pond. The amount of floating
>> Fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana ??) biomass there is quite impressive,
>> particularly along the smallish coves of the northern basin. In places 
>> the
>> Fanwort zone is several metres wide. Of course,  there is no quick way of
>> telling how much of the pond's bottom is covered with this plant.
>>
>> The rhizomes were lush green, but I didn't observe any of the resident
>> Black
>> or Mallard ducks feeding on them. I briefly checked the nearby pond on 
>> the
>> other (i.e., southern) side of Purcells Cove Road for Fanwort but didn't
>> find any. It may be worthwhile to keep checking other nearby freshwater
>> bodies (Whimsical Lake, Cunard Pond, Williams Lake) for spread of this
>> invasive plant.
>>
>> Dusan Soudek
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Burkhard Plache
>> Sent: Friday, December 26, 2014 6:35 PM
>> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Frog Pond (Halifax) - Non-native Aquatic
>>
>> Here is a link to a few photos of the specimens floating in clear water:
>> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5cqlzcbn93wayoh/AABLTH0_OET6amgcDO0bcvR8a?dl=0
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 26, 2014 at 11:04 AM, Nicholas Hill <fernhillns@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Can you send an image of your aquatic?
>>> No reports of Cabomba here that I can see. Have you considered the
>>> bladderworts (e.g, purple bladderwort)?
>>> Nick
>>>
>>> On Thu, Dec 25, 2014 at 1:27 PM, Burkhard Plache
>>> <burkhardplache@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> For a number of weeks now, I had noticed a heavy accumulation
>>>> of an aquatic herb at the shoreline of Frog Pond.
>>>> Initially I assumed it might be Ceratophyllum (hornwort) or
>>>> Myriophyllum (water milfoil), both reported from Nova Scotia.
>>>>
>>>> However, the plant has opposite leaves, which are fan-like,
>>>> finely divided. I am now certain it is a species of Cabomba,
>>>> most likely Cabomba caroliniana.
>>>>
>>>> The species is not native to NS, but used in aquariums.
>>>> Maybe this introduction was the result of an aquarium dump.
>>>> (Could have happened a few years back when a Gold Fish
>>>> or a Koi was seen in the pond.)
>>>>
>>>> In other regions of the world Cabomba is a problematic
>>>> invasive. Is it problematic here as well?
>>>> Have people seen this in other parts of Nova Scotia?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Wikipedia links to the species mentioned above:
>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratophyllum
>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriophyllum
>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabomba_caroliniana
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> 


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