WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.560 [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.580 We are very concerned about invasive species in the park. 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:16.620 They are one of the biggest problems 00:00:16.620 --> 00:00:21.270 that we have because they can displace native species, 00:00:21.270 --> 00:00:22.895 they can even change whole ecosystems. 00:00:22.895 --> 00:00:37.040 [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:37.040 --> 00:00:40.020 So, invasive species are basically a problem worldwide. 00:00:40.020 --> 00:00:41.400 Even in our national parks, which 00:00:41.400 --> 00:00:43.830 have the highest level of protection, 00:00:43.830 --> 00:00:45.600 there are invasive species problems, 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:49.140 either because they were planted a long time ago or species just 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:51.240 move in by either people moving them in 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:54.060 or a lot of birds disperse berries. 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:55.830 So, they come in, they become established, 00:00:55.830 --> 00:01:00.660 and then they create problems ecologically. 00:01:00.660 --> 00:01:02.490 The best way to deal with invasive species 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:04.440 is to prevent them from getting into the park. 00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:07.290 The next best way is to eradicate them 00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:09.490 as soon as they are found. 00:01:09.490 --> 00:01:11.340 And if we can't do either of those, 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:14.220 then we have to make decisions about which we will battle. 00:01:14.220 --> 00:01:16.380 Because once they become established, 00:01:16.380 --> 00:01:19.230 it becomes much more difficult and expensive to try 00:01:19.230 --> 00:01:20.579 to control them. 00:01:20.579 --> 00:01:24.890 [BIRDS CHIRPING] 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:30.110 Hemlock woolly adelgid is a tiny insect that came from Japan 00:01:30.110 --> 00:01:32.240 and has spread throughout the Eastern United States 00:01:32.240 --> 00:01:34.910 from Georgia to Maine. 00:01:34.910 --> 00:01:37.520 We discovered it in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation 00:01:37.520 --> 00:01:39.560 Area in 1989. 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:43.130 From our monitoring studies we estimate more than 40% 00:01:43.130 --> 00:01:46.280 of the hemlock trees have died and most of the remaining trees 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.070 are in various stages of moderate to severe decline. 00:01:49.070 --> 00:01:52.070 Hemlock woolly adelgid is a case of what some people call 00:01:52.070 --> 00:01:53.810 an invasive species meltdown. 00:01:53.810 --> 00:01:56.870 So, you have, initially, just one invasive species 00:01:56.870 --> 00:02:00.920 leading to a cascade invasion of many, many, many other invasive 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:04.000 species, changing the whole habitat and ecosystem. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.120 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.900 We have treated well over 10,000 trees in the park 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:13.930 but those treatments are neither financially 00:02:13.930 --> 00:02:15.490 or ecologically sustainable. 00:02:15.490 --> 00:02:18.520 We do not want to be treating many, many thousands of hemlock 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:20.930 trees indefinitely with insecticides. 00:02:20.930 --> 00:02:23.170 So, we just did that as a stopgap measure, 00:02:23.170 --> 00:02:25.390 largely to maintain habitats that 00:02:25.390 --> 00:02:30.250 were very important for other species like brook trout. 00:02:30.250 --> 00:02:34.900 That's why the woolly adelgid is such an important pest 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:38.290 for us to try to control, because it doesn't just 00:02:38.290 --> 00:02:42.730 affect a tree or trees, it can change the whole ecosystem. 00:02:42.730 --> 00:02:44.470 It changes the whole habitat. 00:02:44.470 --> 00:02:45.870 The whole forest is changing. 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:50.800 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.650 Inventory and monitoring is something that goes on often 00:02:53.650 --> 00:02:54.400 behind the scenes. 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:57.050 A lot of visitors aren't even aware that it's going on, 00:02:57.050 --> 00:02:58.720 that there are teams of scientists 00:02:58.720 --> 00:03:02.230 out there monitoring the health of these ecosystems. 00:03:02.230 --> 00:03:04.420 Each Inventory and Monitoring Network 00:03:04.420 --> 00:03:06.940 has a list of vital signs that are 00:03:06.940 --> 00:03:10.960 a way for us to really check up on the health of the park, 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:14.740 whether that's looking at forest health monitoring, measuring 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:18.250 tree regeneration and soil quality, 00:03:18.250 --> 00:03:21.610 or we can look at something like water quality. 00:03:21.610 --> 00:03:24.250 Invasive Species Early Detection and Monitoring Program 00:03:24.250 --> 00:03:27.340 is a protocol that we set up and is designed 00:03:27.340 --> 00:03:32.600 to look at new invasive species and incipient plants, 00:03:32.600 --> 00:03:34.510 insects, and other organisms that 00:03:34.510 --> 00:03:39.190 are not in the parks yet but may pose a threat in the future. 00:03:39.190 --> 00:03:45.440 [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:03:45.440 --> 00:03:48.920 We have great concerns about invasives, both plants 00:03:48.920 --> 00:03:51.530 and animals, that are coming our way. 00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:53.930 Emerald ash borers, for example, that attack 00:03:53.930 --> 00:03:57.410 ash trees and red pine scale. 00:03:57.410 --> 00:04:02.480 So far, knock on wood, we do not have any hemlock woolly adelgid 00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:04.820 in Acadia National Park, but we expect 00:04:04.820 --> 00:04:06.410 that it's on the doorstep. 00:04:06.410 --> 00:04:08.480 The Inventory and Monitoring Network, 00:04:08.480 --> 00:04:12.170 because they're out in the park on a regular basis, 00:04:12.170 --> 00:04:15.230 provide real-time eyes on the ground 00:04:15.230 --> 00:04:18.050 and will help with really rapid early detection 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:20.340 of those invasives. 00:04:20.340 --> 00:04:21.839 That's a really powerful opportunity 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:25.740 when something has not yet established a foothold here. 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:29.390 And we can actually go in and remove it and keep it out 00:04:29.390 --> 00:04:31.000 of the parks. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:33.020 So, the exotic plant management team's job 00:04:33.020 --> 00:04:36.960 is to remove exotic plants that are invasive in the park. 00:04:36.960 --> 00:04:38.900 They're generally focused on species 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:40.970 that could become a problem but they're still 00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:43.040 at levels that are manageable. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.280 And a lot of what they do is either mechanical removal where 00:04:46.280 --> 00:04:48.100 they're cutting down shrubs. 00:04:48.100 --> 00:04:49.910 So, in some areas where there's really 00:04:49.910 --> 00:04:52.646 dense example of a invasive species, 00:04:52.646 --> 00:04:54.770 they'll actually spray the leaves with a herbicide. 00:04:54.770 --> 00:04:57.608 It's the easiest way for them to kill the plant. 00:04:57.608 --> 00:05:00.680 [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:03.140 The mission of the National Park Service 00:05:03.140 --> 00:05:06.650 is to protect the natural and cultural resources 00:05:06.650 --> 00:05:09.050 of all our parks forever. 00:05:09.050 --> 00:05:10.940 So, we take that mission really to heart. 00:05:10.940 --> 00:05:13.610 The Inventory and Monitoring Network work 00:05:13.610 --> 00:05:17.910 is a perfect example of that mission in action. 00:05:17.910 --> 00:05:20.930 The I&M scientists are out in our parks 00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:24.380 so that they can provide real-time, good science 00:05:24.380 --> 00:05:26.630 for management decisions so that we 00:05:26.630 --> 00:05:29.570 can take care of those resources in perpetuity 00:05:29.570 --> 00:05:31.280 for the American people. 00:05:31.280 --> 00:05:38.230 [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:38.230 --> 00:05:48.416