Invasive Plant Species Found in Arkansas’ Sulphur River

By Ammoland Editor Joe Evans

USA -(Ammoland.com)- Another big, scary monster has been spotted near Boggy Creek in southwest Arkansas, but this one is green, lives in the water and has been knocking on Arkansas’s door for years. Giant salvinia, an invasive species of plant, was discovered last week on Smith Park Lake in Miller County, and biologists are scrambling into action.

Giant salvinia is a free-floating South American plant, similar in appearance to duckweed but much larger. It stays at the water’s surface and can rapidly cover a large area and choke out all life in the water beneath if left unchecked. According to Sea Grant Louisiana, under ideal conditions, a single plant of giant salvinia can multiply to cover 40 square miles of surface area in only three months.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission staff have done an extensive search throughout the lake’s watershed, and so far the only areas where the plant has been found are in Smith Park Lake and a swampy area on private land directly downstream of the lake.

Jason Olive, AGFC assistant chief of fisheries, says the most likely source of the plant’s appearance was during recent floods.

“There aren’t any boat ramps …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand