Nicolas Alvarez

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 8

Jan 19, 2023

NOO not this plant!

Introduction

Have you ever been to a swamp trying to enjoy nature but then you see a plant that has completely taken over the entire body of water. That plant is called giant salvinia or “salvinia molesta”. The giant salvinia plant is a very invasive plant species that originated from Brazil but has moved to the United States of America but mainly Texas. This plant may seem very normal but it is not. The giant salvinia plant is weird because of its weird structure. The giant salvinia plant is also very harmful towards the animals and other plants that are in the same body of water as the giant salvinia.the reason why the giant salvinia plant is very harmful is because it spreads very quick. The giant salvinia plant may seem like just another plant but giant salvinia is one of the craziest plants that you will ever come across.

Taxonomy and Description

The giant salvinia plant is an invasive plant that looks friendly but it is a very weird plant because of its structure and its scientific name. For example, some people call giant salvinia kariba weed or water fern. The most common scientific name for giant salvinia is salvinia molesta. The giant salvinia plant is a part of the plantae family. The giant salvinia plant is also considered a species. The subkingdom of the giant salvinia is virdiplantae which is mostly green plants (Thayer). Giant salvinia is a free floating aquatic fern. The plant does not have any roots but “its submerged fronds function as roots” (Thayer). One thing that giant salvinia has is stems. The stems are horizontal and they float just below the surface of the water. The upper floating leaf of the plant is green while the leaf that is floating at the bottom is usually brown. The lower leaves of giant salvinia may grow up to 25 centimeters. The upper part of the plant is covered with rows of white and it also has some bristly hairs. Four of the hairs join together to make what looks like a cage or a small eggbeater (Thayer). This eggbeater shape helps the plant a lot because it is what makes the plant float in the water. The hairs create a water repellent protective covering. The size of the plant is about 2-4 cm long and about 1-6 cm wide.

Introduction to Non-Native Habitat 

The giant salvinia plant is native to the south american country of brazil but it was also found in a lot of other places before it became really invasive (Thayer). The giant salvinia plant was found in the Asian country of Sri Lanka in the year 1939. The giant salvinia plant species was also found  in many other parts of the world but the plant was mainly found in regions that are really warm. About 60 years after it was found in the country of Sri Lanka, the giant salvinia plant was found spreading in the United States of America. The giant salvinia plant was not spreading in all of the United states of America, it was spreading in the south in the city of  Houston, Texas in the spring of 1998 (Reinke). In Texas, there is a lot of swamps and most of the swamps have been invaded by the giant salvinia plant. The giant salvinia plant had various stays at many different countries but the plant was finally able to settle in a warm enough place to be able to stay and become more invasive to the land area. The giant salvinia plant was first being described as “an aquarium and water garden plant” (Thayer). When the giant salvinia plant initiates its stay in a new area, the giant salvinia spreads as quick as fire and there is no stopping after that. The giant salvinia plant also grows on many water vehicles like boats and other types of recreational vehicles. The giant salvinia plant fills out the area better and quicker when the plant is in bodies of water that are moving really slow. Some examples of bodies of water where the giant salvinia plant can grow quick and that move slowly are ditches, ponds, lakes, slow rivers and canals (Salvinia Molesta).

Adverse Effects

The giant salvinia plant is very invasive and it spreads like wildfire. When it arrives at a new place it invades it really fast, the giant salvinia plant has been to a lot of places so it has had its many types of effects. One of the examples of the effects of the giant salvinia plant is that it grows on many types of ships. One of the types of ships that the giant salvinia plant grows on is called a barge. A barge is a type of ship that is mainly used for cargo transportation. When the plant grows on the ship, it may cause some technical issues to the ship which means that the plant will stop the ship from going to its location to drop off the cargo. This is a really bad problem because what if the boat is transporting something really important that a city needs but the plant is stopping it from going to its location. The giant salvinia plant also grows in bodies of water like lakes and other types. Barges are mainly being used in lakes. If there is too much giant salvinia in the lake then the barge would not be able to get to its destination (Salvinia Molesta). Although the giant salvinia plant has some bad effects to it, it also has a little bit of good effects. For example, the giant salvinia plant is used for decoration. If you go to an aquarium, they would most likely have the giant salvinia plant there. Giant salvinia is also used for decoration in ponds and also fish tanks. One final example of where the giant salvinia plant is being used for decoration is a garden (Salvinia Molesta). The giant salvinia plant is a very invasive plant with many negative effects but it also has some good effects.

Conclusion: Study, Control, and Eradication

The giant salvinia plant is an invasive species that grows very quickly in many different areas especially swamps and if people want to go out somewhere to enjoy nature and they chose to go to a swamp, the person that chose to go there would not be able to enjoy the swamp because it is covered with the giant salvinia plant. Many people are taking action and they are trying to get rid of the giant salvinia plant but many scientist think that the giant salvinia plant is very hard to get rid of . One way that scientist suggest to get rid of the giant salvinia plant is to rake the giant salvinia out of the water. This process will probably be very hard to do if you are trying to rake the plant out of a big area like a swamp but if you are trying to rake the giant salvinia plant out of a tiny pond it should not take a very long time. Another thing that scientist suggest when trying to get rid of the giant salvinia plant is that you need to get every single little bit of plant out of the area or else the plant can quickly come back to its area (Monica Reinke).

Works Cited

Monica Reinke et al. “Impact of Salvinia on Aquatic Ecosystems.” ArcGIS StoryMaps, 09 Dec. 2019, storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b671553c4ed9477c9bb03a9aa.

“Salvinia Molesta.” Invasive Species Specialist Group, 04 Oct. 2010, www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=569.

Shiyou Li et al. “Endocide-Induced Abnormal Growth Forms of Invasive Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta).” Nature, 22 May. 2018 www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-25986-5.

Thayer, D.D. et al. “Salvinia Molesta.” U.S. Geological Society, U.S. Geological Survey, nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=298.