At the invitation of Harpswell Academy teacher Kim Bengtson, Linda Wilkins and Susan Reynolds introduced eleven 5th&6th grade students to the concept of the ecosystem and how invasive plants can disrupt this balance of nature. Representing the Harpswell Invasive Plant Partnership, a collaboration of town groups that foster a healthy and welcoming ecological environment in Harpswell, Susan and Linda led the group to Curtis Farm where Susan explained that the ecosystem can be thought of as a bubble of life in which all the plants and animals all share food, water, nutrition, and sun. If one element is removed, the bubble breaks. If a new element is added, there isn’t enough to share adequately, and the bubble breaks.
Our town’s bittersweet vines are one example of a non-native plant that has been intruding on our environment, eager to take over available sun, water, and nutrients, thereby doing environmental damage to our native plants. Other invasive plants are likewise at fault.
What can be done?—Reduce or eliminate invasive plants as much as possible. To that end, Linda showed the group of students at Curtis Farm how to clip off the seeds of Rosa multiflora to bag for disposal at our landfill, preventing them from sprouting. The branches, then, were cut and piled on a tarp, then added to the burn pile at Curtis Farm, making the root crown visible for removal at a later date. The students adeptly used the clippers and loppers and happily worked together to reduce these invasive plants. Farther down the trail, small bittersweet vines, ready to twine and strangle neighboring trees were pulled roots and all by the students.
Thanks to Kim Bengtson for inviting HIPP teachers to her class, and to the lively students who participated. Now that the students can identify and control these invasive plants, they are ready to apply this knowledge at home and in their communities. It’s an annual task that will benefit us all.
