Category: newpost

By Rebecca Brown and Jim Page

Wilbur.  For many of us who grew up watching Charlotte’s Web, the site of America’s Favorite Pig is a welcome one.  However, though Charlotte’s porky friend was certainly cute and friendly, we have come to learn in our adulthood that such is not always the case with pigs and hogs, specifically for those who have no farm to call home.  Feral hogs, or wild pigs, have caused some of the most significant negative impacts on our ecosystems.  In fact, some scientists say wild pigs are the greatest vertebrate modifier of natural communities in the United States. 

Their destruction isn’t just a byproduct of their rooting and feeding behavior; sometimes, it is a direct consequence of their feeding behavior.  Scientists have learned that one of the favorite foods of wild pigs residing on Georgia’s barrier islands is also one of Georgia’s most threatened species:  sea turtles, specifically their eggs.  Research has shown that wild pigs will often use their enhanced sense of smell to locate a sea turtle nest, dig them up, and eat the eggs, thereby negatively impacting a sea turtle population already struggling to rebound. Though such negative impacts on sea turtles along our coast have been known for years, it wasn’t until recently that additional coastal impacts by these pests were realized.   A recent study in the marshes of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve has discovered feral hogs can also reduce the resilience of our southeastern United States salt marshes.

Feral hogs have a hefty appetite for ribbed mussels, a bi-valve that grows together in mounds and is commonly found in the marshes of Georgia.  These mussels have a non-trophic relationship with cordgrass, or Spartina, that regulates the ecosystem structure and resilience of salt marshes.  Scientists have learned that cordgrass and ribbed mussel have a positive mutualistic relationship in that the waste produced by the mussels provides nutrients for the growth of cordgrass and the cordgrass provides substrate and shade for the mussel.

Though their aesthetic beauty is well documented in the poetry of Sidney Lanier, cordgrass serves a much more important purpose.  Cordgrass is the base of the coastal marsh ecosystem that provides many ecosystem services. 

Additionally, cordgrass are essential for saltmarsh recovery after a catastrophic event such as a severe drought.  Recovery time after a large die-off of cordgrass can be a few years when ribbed mussels are present, as compared to many decades to recover when mussels are not present.

The discovery of the impacts of increased mussel predation by wild pigs along the coast is certainly alarming.  The loss of ribbed mussels can significantly weaken the resilience of our coastal marshes and thereby reduce the ecosystem services these marshes provide us.  Our coastal ecosystems are already facing increased pressure as global climate change increases the length and severity of droughts, increases storm intensity and frequency, and causes sea levels to rise. The facilitating species in non-trophic positive interactions can buffer against abiotic stress, widen niches, increase population densities, and strengthen ecosystem multi-functionality.  As a result of the learned negative impacts these pot-bellied pests can create, management plans created by resource managers need to adjust accordingly.  This means taking a wider approach to factor in how invasive species like wild hogs can alter non-trophic positive interactions (e.g. cordgrass and ribbed mussel).  We must consider how we as resource managers can prevent when possible and overcome when challenged with these unfortunate scenarios.  If we don’t, we may be left with less than nothing, and even a pig like Wilbur knows that’s the lowest you can go.

More Information: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26504-4 

An estimated 100 million Americans go boating each year. In 2020, the Coast Guard counted 5,265 accidents that involved 767 deaths and 3,191 injuries. Compared to 2019, the number of accidents increased 26.3%, the number of deaths increased 25.1%, and the number of injuries increased 24.7%. Where the cause of death was known, 75% of fatal boating accident victims in 2020 drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 86% were not wearing a lifejacket. Where instruction was known, 77% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator did not receive boating safety instruction. Only 12% percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received a nationally-approved boating safety education certificate. Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed, and machinery failure rank as the top five primary contributing factors in boating accidents. (americanboating.org)

Do you consider yourself a competent boater?

You are headed toward open water and we see only one green buoy ahead, would you keep the buoy on your right side or keep the buoy on your left side? You are boating at night and you see a red and white light, would you maintain your current speed or slow down?

Georgia Boating Laws require all persons born on or after January 1, 1998, that operate any motorized vessel on the waters of the state must have completed a boat education course approved by the department prior to such operation. Even if you are of the age that you are not required to take the course, you should at least review the Georgia boating laws and responsibilities. A person is exempt if he or she is:

• a person licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard as a master of a vessel;
• a person operating on a private lake or pond;
• a non-resident who has in his or her possession proof that he or she has completed a NASBLA-approved boater education course or equivalency examination from another state.

You can take a boating education course in a classroom setting with the Department of Natural Resources, the United States Coast Guard, or the United States Power Squadrons. You can also take one of our approved online courses from the service providers listed below under On-Line Courses. Some courses have an associated cost, while others may be free.

More information: https://gadnrle.org/boating-education

The Small Impoundments Technical Committee is planning to host an aquatic plant workshop at the 2023 SDAFS annual meeting. Our goal is to provide identification as well as up-to-date control information for the most problematic aquatic species we are faced with within the Southeast. By polling SDAFS representatives from each state, we have developed a list of the top 23 problematic aquatic plants in southeastern impoundments. As new products and techniques are being used to control aquatic vegetation in both private and public water bodies in the Southeast, the informational literature is outdated. Therefore, we are polling professional applicators across the Southeast to gather more up-to-date control information that can be available to applicators. Please use this form and answer the questions for each plant listed below based on your own personal experiences, and in as much detail as you are willing.

NOTE: Obviously, choosing the best and most comprehensive weed control program for a particular body of water can be very subjective and requires a level of experience literature can’t provide. This poll is just intended to provide the best biological and chemical tools available to battle each plant species. Thus, for now, there is no need to mention other techniques such as retreatment, combining biological and chemical, shading with fertilization or dyes, deepening shallow areas, nutrient reduction, etc. There is no need to indicate any state restrictions for biological control or chemical control agents. Applicators should be aware of this already. Also, refrain from listing specific chemical application rates or possible water quality/toxicity issues as this information is listed in the product label and should be left to the discretion of the applicator in each situation.   

ANOTHER NOTE: You will be asked to provide the most effective chemical treatment for each plant; however, a different chemical treatment may be more practical or affordable in some situations. Provide that info in the “Additional Notes or Comments” section at the bottom. Also, if your control information for one plant is the same as another plant on the list, then you can just indicate that besides the plant’s name. If you have no experience controlling a particular plant, just leave blank.

Link: https://forms.gle/TEoQRESKwq1Eonrh9