Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Results of Collaboative Study Now Available

The Central Hardwoods Invasive Plant Network aka Chip-N has recently completed a collaborative survey of invasive species along the lower Ohio River Valley.
Chip-N is an informal partnership between Cooperative Weed Management Areas in the southern portions of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The groups participating are the River to River CWMA, Southern Indiana CWMA, Iron Furnace CWMA and the Southeast Ohio NNIS Interest Group.
This project, with funding from USFS State & Private Forestry, USFS Eastern Region and several other sources, worked with The Nature Conservancy, Notre Dame University and the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia to design and implement the surveys and to make the survey results available online.
This project resulted in the discovery of many new infestations of invasive species along the Lower Ohio River, its tributaries, and some of the nearby reservoirs. Most notable was the discovery of widespread infestations of Hydrilla along the Ohio River adjacent to Indiana and Ohio.
See maps based on the results.