Lee County Well Field

Alico Road
Fort Myers, Florida

See a map to this location

The Lee County well field was invaded by melaleuca and after a series of fires the land managers decided to remove all the dead pines and exotic plants. However, because it is a well field, they chose not to use herbicides on the cut stumps and allowed biocontrol agents to suppress the trees.  This site is used primarily for research but occasionally it is included in tours to demonstrate the impacts of biological control agents on meleleuca trees and stump regrowth.

Chemical Treatments

None

Mechanical Treatments

None

Biological Control Treatments

Some stumps are protected from the insects with insecticide applications, while neighboring stumps are not. This allows land managers to observe a large scale implementation with examples of what would happen if the insects were not there.

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