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Protect Wisconsin Lakes
Invasive Aquatic plants
Eurasian Watermilfoil
Eurasian watermilfoil is a submersed, rooted aquatic plant native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. It was first reported in the United States in the 1880s and Wisconsin in the 1960s. Eurasian watermilfoil can reproduce via fragmentation, meaning a single stem fragment introduced to a waterbody could take root and establish a new population. Although it is present in almost every county in Wisconsin, it has only been verified in less than 10 percent of waterbodies statewide. While Eurasian watermilfoil can grow to nuisance levels in some waterbodies, recent studies have found that most Wisconsin lakes currently have populations at low frequencies, with relatively few lakes exhibiting very dense growth.
Eurasian Watermilfoil
Eurasian Watermilfoil
Curly Leaf Pondweed
Curly-leaf pondweed is a submersed aquatic plant native to Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. It was first verified in North America in the 1840s and quickly spread throughout the Northeast and Great Lakes regions into the early 1900s. Curly-leaf pondweed typically reproduces via turions (i.e., vegetative propagules), generally formed in late spring and early summer. The plant naturally dies back soon after turion formation, and the turions remain dormant in the sediment during the remainder of the summer and early fall. When water temperatures cool, the turions germinate (i.e., start growing). While a small number of turions may germinate in the fall (and survive under the ice during the winter), the majority of the turions will germinate the following spring. Curly-leaf proliferates once water temperatures reach 50⁰F (10⁰C).
Curly Leaf Pondweed
Curly Leaf Pondweed
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