Weekly post |
After concluding on how to proceed in terms of a demonstration, the Dirty Lads continued to collect samples of the Japanese Knotweed, this time retaining a sample in a fish tank, while keeping a neighboring plant in another fish tank to serve as a control. Even if conditions in the laboratory were not ideal, it would be made possible to reference the performance of the knotweed with another plant after a few weeks. As the Dirty Lads conducted the extraction, it was observed that there was snow on the ground and the stalk of the plant had nearly completely withered. The leaves were withered as well, producing an overall brown, decomposing appearance to the plant. It was believed that there would be no possible way that the plant would recover, but the Dirty Lads collected the sample regardless, taking it back to the laboratory to give it a chance to regrow. To reiterate, the largest focus of using a fish tank would be to show the roots. Based on the digging effort, it was clear that the root ball was not a ball, but rather a far-reaching network of thick rhizomes that had embedded themselves deep into the soil. Any plant life surrounding the knotweed was clearly withered and fading, not only because of the poor weather, but due to being “choked out” by the Japanese knotweed. Rather than using the botany greenhouse that was on campus, the Dirty Lads considered the danger that the knotweed would pose to common, noninvasive species living in the greenhouse and ultimately concluded that it would be safer to store and grow the plant in the sanitary laboratory. Publication efforts for the project continued, as the Facebook page and Twitter account began to accumulate posts and tweets.
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For the third week of the bringing awareness to the Northfield community the Dirty Lads went out into the Dog River to get samples for our model. When the group went out to the Dog River we also talked to some of the locals about what we were doing. They seemed interested towards the removal of the Japanese Knotweed in the area. When the Dirty Lads got to the Dog River most of the Japanese Knotweed was brown and looked dead however despite the look of the weed above the ground the weed was very much alive. Using shovels and post hole digger the Dirty Lads carefully uprooted some Japanese Knotweed to ensure that most of the root system was still intact. The reason that we made sure that the root system was not damaged is that this would help with the model’s visualization of the Japanese Knotweed’s root system. This way the Japanese Knotweed would not have regrow its root system. When we went out the Dog River we also dug up a patch of grass. The purpose of the grass is that we are going to compare the root system of the Japanese Knotweed to that of the native species of grass in the Northfield area. Once we collected the samples required for our model we brought them back to Norwich University. We made sure that we placed the samples in location that would be warm and receive an adequate amount of sun light. Even though Norwich University has a greenhouse we decided not to put the weed in greenhouse at the risk of the Japanese Knotweed invade the greenhouse. We decide then to place the weed in the Environmental Lab room by the windows. After moving the Japanese Knotweed out of the cold the weed sprouted a new shoot because when we grabbed the weed the top portion was already dead. Once getting the weed in the lab room the group sat down and developed a plan to water the plants to ensure that that were receiving the right amount of sunlight and water. Alonzo Hilario came in every few days to sing to the plants. Since we had completed the model for the project we then started to plan what we wanted to present to the high school students in the Northfield community. We came up with the idea to have a poster board filled with pictures to draw in the students to our area. On the poster board we will include a step by step guide how to identify the Japanese Knotweed. This will be accompanied with visuals so that the students will have an idea of what to look for when they are out and about in the great outdoors of Northfield Vermont. The next key topic that will be covered on the poster board is how to get rid of the Japanese Knotweed this will also be accompanied with visuals. We also plan on talking through our website without going to it, just hitting the key topics from our website.
-Vincent Nguyen As a preliminary assessment, the Dirty Lads began by examining the site affected by the species most heavily. As mentioned before, this area of greatest population density was along the banks, near the bridge leading to the Rugby Pitch. This area was photographed, and the Dirty Lads returned to the office in order to plan out a course of action that would include how to isolate and remove the plant from the area. Many methods were considered, some involving more natural treatments and some involving more chemical treatments. The largest challenge to combating the plant is its strong network of rhizomes. Although many people may use rhizome and roots interchangeably, rhizomes are actually much thicker and allow the plant to absorb more nutrients. This further reinforced the idea that Japanese Knotweed was a difficult invasive species to combat. It was around this time that the Dirty Lads realized that action would need to be taken in order to make the dangers of knotweed public knowledge. Using the power of social media, the Dirty Lads created a Facebook and Twitter account that would serve as a means of broadcasting a message. Attempts would be made via these social media accounts to connect with local politicians for community outreach and to increase community awareness.
As part of the community outreach effort, the Dirty Lads were called on to create a demonstrable model that would show the effects of knotweed. The clearest solution would be to use two fish tanks in order to allow full view of how the Japanese Knotweed develops differently compared to regular plants in a controlled environment. One of the considerations made was whether or not the size of the tank mattered but after much deliberation, it was settled that the tank size was relatively unimportant; what mattered most was that the roots were visible in the apparatus. The plants would be exposed to sunlight and watered regularly, but would remain indoors until the presentation. The difficulties of being able to grow a plant without adequate conditions was considered, but the Dirty Lads, based on many years exposed to the wild[BB1] , made the decision that the plant would likely be able to grow in non-ideal conditions. [BB1]Three of the four Dirty Lads are Eagle Scouts and know how to deal with wild plants thusly. Starting the second week of the fight against the Japanese Knotweed, research was done on the best way to combat the weed, what to do with the weed and how to best get the public informed about the weed. Starting the week off the website was updated, pictures were added to increase the visual appeal of the website, however the website is far from complete. The current goal of the website is to streamline the website in that the website is more user friendly so and visually appealing. The team went out to get pictures of Japanese knotweed and the plan for those pictures are to make a comprehensive guide on how to identify the Japanese Knotweed. By creating the guide everyday people will be able to gain a better understanding of what the weed looks like, so that they’re are not unintentionally harming the environment by eradicating a native plant that is crucial to the ecosystem. On the informative side of the project this week a Facebook and twitter accounts were launched during this week. The purpose of these accounts is to spread the word on the Japanese Knotweed to the public. The social media accounts are still in the making in that they are far from ready to truly engage the average person to care and understand the environmental impacts of the Japanese knotweed. As of right now only those who are really into eradicating the weed from their backyards will care about the weed. The group came together to thoroughly think about the best way make a model. It was determined that the for the model only 2 fish tanks will be required. The size of fish tanks does not really matter because the purpose of the fish tank are to allow the viewer to see the roots of the weed and visually compare the impacts of the soil. One tank will be filled with regular soil that has not been impacted by the Japanese knotweed. The second tank will have the weed in it. Testing must be done on the soil to confirm that the weed is negatively impacting the soil. When the testing is done the results will imputed into the website. However, the results first must be converted into a format that will be easily digestible by those who know little about environmental engineering. This means that the charts and graphs will probably need to be generated. The group has also played with the idea of making videos of how to remove the weed and the different methods, along with a video of how to identify the weed. With the temperatures dropping people are less likely to go outside to look for the weed, so the best time to campaign hard to get rid of the weed would be in the warmer seasons. However, because of the time restrictions the group has to work harder to convince the average person to care and understand the environmental impact of the Japanese Knotweed.
-Vincent Nguyen For the second week of our project, we started to develop a model to show just how persistent of a species the Japanese Knotweed. The shogun knot swat team drove down to the bridge connecting the Norwich University Rugby Pitch to the rest of the campus where there is an abundance of Japanese Knotweed. After arrival, the team used tools obtained from the materials lab on campus to dig up a sample of Knotweed and put it in a large plastic jar. Another sample was taken of normal grass, taken from a location away from the closest Knotweed plants. These samples were taken back to the lab to be placed in a controlled environment, undergo observation and hopefully show some results.
The first meeting happened in conference room 124 at Norwich University, where the teams for this service learning research project were created. This group has the same members as the members in CE 421 Environmental Engineering Lab. The group was then briefed by Professor Kulkarni on what is a service learning research project and what the scope of the whole project should be. After the brief the group brainstormed ideas and came up with tackling the problem of Japanese Knotweed, a very aggressive type of invasive species, and what kind of environmental impact this weed has on the environment. With the help of Professor Zemba the group was able to brainstorm ideas on how to spread the word out about the weed. The idea that the group had was to have a system that allows those who find the weed to report it in the website and how to get the public informed of the weed. An idea to get a public service announcement (PSA), was to create a model with the actual weed with a cross section of the weed to demonstrate how the weed affects the soil around it compared to soil without the weed. Also have another PSA just to have a wider reach of the public to be aware of the presence of the weed and how they con refer to our website on how to get rid of the weed without aiding the weed spread and invade more of Vermont and around the Dog River. After coming up with the project and how to go about the project the group then made a website. At this point early October, the group has not yet completely squared away the website. The reason for the incomplete website is learning how to build and effective website along with implementing tools for the public to use so that they can get involved and start the movement against the Japanese knotweed in the Dog River and the Northfield VT, area. The groups have also visited the Dog River to get a general idea of the spread of the Japanese Knotweed in the area. This has allowed the group to become more familiar with the weed so that the group can refine the tactics to use against the weed. The group has also done research on the weed to gain a better understanding on the environment and how the weed is able to spread. After a brief talk with Professor Kelly the group learned that there are surveys done of the Dog River’s movement meaning how the river bends and how those bends change throughout the years. This means the groups can see how the weed has spread and the effects on the Dog River’s movement along with the effect the weed has on the soil and the plants around it. Overall the groups Dirty Lads have formed the group Shogun Knot Swat to combat the Japanese knotweed and how to inform the public of the environmental impacts of the weed and how they are can take action on the weed. Vincent NguyenThe Shogun Knot Swat decided to do their project on managing the spread and growth of Japanese Knotweed, an invasive species of plant from Japan. The Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is commonly found near Forest edges, meadows, fields, floodplains, and disturbed areas, and grows in large and thick groups. The plant, when full grown, is usually around 10’ tall with a wide root system but has also been recorded at up to 13’ tall. Its seeds also have, on average, a 95% viability rate for producing a new. Seedlings aren’t the only way that the plant can reproduce though. The root system consists of numerous intertwined rhizomes which can break off and produce an entirely new plant all on its own. The effect this plant has on the environment in Northfield, due to its preference to form around and on river banks, is that it is detrimental to natural vegetation growth along the Dog River as well as narrowing the river or even blocking smaller waterways depending on how thick the weed has grown. As of this point in the groups efforts to research the best ways to start reducing the Japanese Knot presence in Northfield, the main control source would be from involving the population of Northfield by informing them of the problem and have them start taking an active role by simply pulling the weeds from the ground whenever possible. Although this method can be effective, there has to be no part of the plants root system left in or on the ground due to the numerous rhizomes in the root system. If the plant were left on the ground the Japanese Knot would simply grow back in the same spot, due to its being an invasive species with a very good survivability rate. There would have to be proper disposal sites that can be as simple as just a few large dumpster bins along large, known populations of the plant which are mainly along the Dog River in areas where flooding is common (flood plains). These dumpsters would have to be covered so that there would be no possibility of any part of the plant escaping due to either wind or animal influences. This is important because the plant can be spread from either the seeds or the rhizomes in the root system.
So far, the group Shogun Knot Swat has done mainly preliminary research into what the Japanese Knotweed is and how it can negatively affect the environment, in addition to developing a rudimentary idea of what the best way to reduce its presence and dispose of it safely. For the next step, the group will continue to research control methods and design a model of how they would develop an effective system to control this invasive species. Following this, the group will finish their research and decide on the best control method and finally build a working model that displays their plan of action. -Pat Ryan When we were looking for challenges facing the Dog River, we cared little for some of the easier challenges to manage. The Dog was already established as a high quality body of water, so some of the simpler fixes (relatively, of course) such as nitrogen and phosphorous mitigation, were not on the table as possible projects. Instead, we chose to delve deeper into challenges facing the body of water. We began to search for problems surrounding the river. Japanese knotweed seemed to be a very large challenge, not only for the Dog River, but for areas across the globe. In several countries, the plant is classified as an invasive species and communities struggle to find ways to deal with the plant. Even by using herbicide, it takes significant effort to cut down the main stalks of the plant over several seasons before one can even consider treating the roots and killing off the plant. There seems to exist three possible solutions for mitigation of Japanese knotweed with the Dog River. The first can be considered a “brute force” solution, which is attempting to do what was stated previously in this post. By cutting down stalks over a few seasons, the plant’s root system, which often branches out significantly, would be weakened to the point of being able to be treated. Herbicide would then be used in order to take down the roots. Although this seems like a relatively simple solution, using herbicide so close to the river would certainly spell danger for the residents of the river. Biochemical oxygen demand would certainly skyrocket, not to mention the concentration of toxic chemicals entering the water would create a large fish kill, among other species to face a grim fate. A second possible solution is digging up the roots, which involves a large amount of earthwork in order to pick up the roots, which extend deep into the ground, and finding a location to place the waste. This presents two major issues. Firstly, and most critical to the Dog River, is the fact that earthwork so close to the riverbank would mean certain expansion of the bank, causing unnatural flows that the Dog is not used to. This digging would also have to be deep, as the roots extend deep into the ground, causing a large cost to the effort. Even more important is the fact that this solution is not certain and would cause the knotweed to find a new place to take root, causing problems for the place that the plants are disposed of. Clearly, this is not in line with the goals of the team, nor its benefactor, so this solution has been ruled out. The third solution seems to be a solution most promising. Given that the team does not want to inject chemicals into the waterway, nor create problems for other areas of the state, it seems that the best solution would be to attack the plants in a manner that creates minimal chemical byproducts. Soil steam sterilization is a viable option that has been introduced in other places of the world. The process is as is implied in that steam is injected into the soil that is hot enough to corrupt necessary biological processes such as protein synthesis, killing the plants in their place. Some issues that could be presented with this solution include the idea of purging any neighboring plants or fauna that contribute to the river’s wellbeing. Brian BetzJapanese knot weed is plant form japan also known as Japanese bamboo. The goal of Shogun Knot Swat is to inform people on the removal and mitigation of the plant. The website is used to let people know what the plant looks like and where Japanese Knotweed most likely resides. Japanese Knotweed is a bamboo looking plant that is most commonly found along the shores of streams, rivers, and other water bodies. It is a green plant with triangle shaped leaves. The plant is loosely rooted in the shore and does not mitigate erosion as well as the local fauna. It stops local fauna from being along shores because once emplaced it chokes and steals the land and water that other plants need to live. Once work to mitigate the spread of Japanese Knotweed is accomplished then the application of the local fauna can be introduced and will work better at soil erosion mitigation. The weeks following this post there will be posts about that week’s accomplishments and the plans on what to do. The group will be looking into specific locations where it is found. Along with different ways to remove Japanese Knotweed from your local area. As well as other local plants that can mitigate soil erosion better that Japanese Knotweed. Weekly timeline: Week one will consist of the main idea and goal of the group and the website Week two is going to be what the plant looks like and ways of removal Week three will include places in Northfield Vermont where Japanese Knotweed is located and routes which the plant can use to spread. Week 4 and the final deliverable will be a last report which will be a culmination of all the work the group has done. The end goal of the overall project is to inform the public on the effects that Japanese knotweed has on the local environment. Along with giving ways of removing the plant and properly disposing of them. Alonzo Hilario |
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the Dirty LadsThe group was first formed in late August of 2018 and since then, founded Shogun Knot Swat Oct. 2018 at Norwich University. The members consist of Brian Betz, Alonzo Hilario, Vincent Nguyen and Pat Ryan. ArchivesCategories |