THE UPSIDE OF A HARD FREEZE FOR INLAND WATERS

While a hard freeze such as the one that hit Texas this past weekend can severely damage coastal fisheries, it can be a blessing for inland waters, according to Howard Elder of Texas Parks and Wildlife inland fisheries division. The worst invasive plants that threaten to smother inland waters are natives of warm climates — South America, mostly — and have limited tolerance to cold temperatures. Freezing temperatures kill them — particularly the floating plants such as hyacinth and salvinia. And East Texas, where water hyacinth and giant salvinia have established colonies that cover thousands of acres of water, got a good hard freeze this past week. Read more on Chron.com.