Researchers who work in wetlands in Michigan are taking a new approach to invasive plants. They’re harvesting them for fertilizer and fuel.
When you’re in the middle of the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, you don’t realize how massive it is. It’s 10,000 acres of marshes and bogs, forest and farmland. To put the size in perspective, Manhattan is roughly 15,000 acres.
Brendan Carson is a researcher from Loyola University Chicago. He’s working on a project at the wildlife refuge centered around harvesting cattails. Carson says the project is designed to let the cattails grow all summer, absorbing the nutrients like a sponge, before the harvesting takes place.
Carson says harvesting invasive plants is more cost effective than spraying them with chemicals.