Invasive Plant Management for Kenai Fjords National Park: 2012 Summary Report

Fulton, Travis

This report describes the work performed by the Exotic Plant Management Team at Kenai Fjords National Park for the 2012 field season. 2012 marks the ninth consecutive year that Kenai Fjords National Park has monitored and controlled invasive plants following the management protocol established by the Alaska Exotic Plant Management Team. The 2012 Kenai Fjords’ Exotic Plant Management Team, coordinated by the park’s Environmental Protection Specialist, included one Biological Science Technician, one Student Conservation Association intern, and two Youth Conservation Corps crew members. Volunteers, community groups, and partner organizations assisted the Kenai Fjords crew with invasive plant control efforts. As with previous seasons, monitoring and control work focused on the Exit Glacier area and along the Exit Glacier Road. Other areas within the park that were controlled in 2012 included sites on the outer coast in Nuka Bay, McCarty Fjord, and Aialik Bay. Control work was mostly performed manually, though herbicide control efforts were conducted on backcountry populations of common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale spp. officinale) in the Exit Glacier area. All invasive plant infestations were mapped using two Trimble GeoXT global positioning system units. Data was post-processed and edited using GPS Pathfinder Office software. The Kenai Fjords Exotic Plant Management Team surveyed 21.4 acres of park lands and 5.5 acres outside park boundaries for invasive species. A total of 8.9acres of invasive plant infestations were mapped. The team treated 7.3 acres of invasive plant infestations, 4.8 of these acres were controlled with herbicide. 488 pounds of invasive plants were manually pulled and removed from the park. This season a number of small, but previously unknown infestations of invasive plants were discovered in the Exit Glacier area, as well as one remote infestation of common dandelions found at Beauty Bay. Monitoring and control efforts should continue in Kenai Fjords National Park to prevent the further spread or introduction of invasive plants within the park and to keep native ecosystems intact. 2012 marks the second consecutive season that Alaska Exotic Plant Management Team staff conducted monitoring for invasive European and Asian Gypsy Moths (Lymantria dispar and L. dispar japonica). Traps were set at Exit Glacier due to the sites vulnerability to invasive introductions. After repeated checks throughout the season the traps were found to be free of Gypsy Moths. Monitoring for these species should continue as they pose a significant threat to the native vegetation of the area.