Louisiana State University is working with a private citizen and a university in Puerto Rico to control an invasive South American weed that can quickly form dense mats over waterways.
LSU AgCenter entomologist Rodrigo Diaz says hurricane recovery leaves the island with few resources to fight giant salvinia, and it’s important to bring back freshwater habitat.
A news release says the weed has overtaken a lake southeast of San Juan and Daniel Diaz, who lives on the lake, got in touch with the AgCenter after looking for ways to control it.
For more than a decade, the AgCenter’s been raising salvinia weevils, which feed on the plant and kill it.
The AgCenter and the University of Puerto Rico are working to get permits to export the weevils to Puerto Rico.
