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| Removing Exotic Invasive Species: Purple Loosestrife Control |
Goals
To develop in students an understanding of:
- the importance of wetland biodiversity in Illinois.
- ecological damage to biodiversity that exotic species have, specifically purple loosestrife, on Illinois wetlands.
- how to employ nature, biological control agents, for the control of exotic species, specifically Galarucella beetles as the biological control agent against purple loosestrife.
- the mass rearing process of Galarucella beetles in the classroom for release against purple loosestrife.
| To teach students how to take positive action in protecting Illinois wetland biodiversity by releasing Galarucella beetles for the biological control of purple loosestrife in neighboring community wetlands. |  |
Location
Two release sites - Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary in Schaumburg and Ferson Creek Fen in St. Charles.
Getting Started
Attended an Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) intro workshop at an Illinois Science Teachers Association convention and then their training workshop at Volo Bog State Park.
Materials
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No cost. INHS provides the plant roots, beetles, and netting; and the Home Depot provides us with potting soil and fertilizer each year.
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Outcomes
- Students perform a host specificity test on the beetles to insure they are safe to release into the environment prior to their release.
- On release day, a team of students, parents, siblings, and friends are gathered for this environmental community service project. GPS receivers are used to record the position of our release sites and digital cameras to document changes in purple loosestrife populations.
- Students wrote reports on what they have learned from this project and as a result four students were published in Illinois Steward Magazine.
- Helped build project identity by presenting in San Diego this past March at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) convention and plan to co-present again at the NSTA convention in Philadelphia this spring.
To get started, contact Dr. Michael Jeffords or Susan Post at the Illinois Natural History Survey in Champaign at (217) 333-5968 or visit their website at http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu. Also, make friends with your local Home Depot for they will donate most of the consumable supplies for the project.
For more information contact:
Robert Keck
e-mail: keckshsbioteachr@netscape.net
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