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Phragmites Removal at McGill Pond
May 11 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Phragmites Removal
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The Blue Point Civic Association, with the support of The Long Island Conservancy and Councilman Neil Foley, will be removing one of our least favorite of our “Dirty Dozen” invasive plants from McGill Pond in Blue Point, Phragmites.
Phragmites — It’s EVERYWHERE!
AND because it is everywhere, people believe it has always been here. For most everyone, it is a part of the scenery. They will say that since it has been here so long, it has adapted, or that since it’s thriving, it belongs here. For the most part, invasive or non-native plants have no local insect enemies to speak of. It takes eons for an insect to evolve to where it can feed productively off a given plant. It must develop evolutionarily the means to get past the plant’s defenses and then to digest the material so that it would be nutritious to the insect.
Phragmites then creates ecological dead zones by drives out our native species and destroys habitat. Everything starts with plants that support local insect populations. There is little to eat in the reeds. Our amphibian, reptile, fish, and bird populations crash along with the insect population. This is why Phragmites removal is so important: It will take over a marsh, and will spread as far as the wind and tides can carry, so we must remove it, no matter how daunting the task seems at first. We have written on this before in Defeating Phragmites.
Volunteer For Phragmites Removal
Help remove this scourge from McGill Pond in Blue Point. It’s on Blue Point Avenue east side just north of #55 where Rogers Street meets Blue Point Avenue. Here is a link to the property lot map. Here is a PDF of the area
We want to be able to see McGill again from the shore, and we want wildlife back to this place! Phragmites removal is the first step. Then come the native trees The Long Island Conservancy is donating to be planted where the Phragmites was! That’s for another day though.