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Impatiens control Thurlauf

Realized:

2018

performed by:

Naturnetz Nordostschweiz

The Canton of Zurich's 2014 water action plan defines requirements for water areas. One goal of the action plan is to prevent excessive impairment of important protected assets by neobiota.

One of the canton's important protected assets is located on the lower course of the Thur: the Thurauen. With an area of almost 400 hectares, they form the largest floodplain area in the Swiss Mittelland and are a protected area of national importance due to their diverse habitats. However, this important protected asset is threatened by various influences. The introduction and spread of invasive neophytes is one of them.

For this reason, the Nature Network Northeast Switzerland team commissions us every year to combat neophytes along the course of the Thur. The control is carried out along a bank of around 38 km from the cantonal border. The focus is particularly on the Himalayan balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera ) because it can reproduce quickly using a very efficient spreading technique. After the seeds on the annual plant have ripened, the seed capsules burst open, are thrown into the water and thus carried from the course of the Thur into the Thu meadows. There they can form pure stands and displace rare native plant species and their habitats. We therefore check the banks of the Thur several times a year to pull out newly emerged plants and thus prevent Himalayan balsam seeds from entering the Thu meadows.

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