National Invasive Species Information Center (NISIC): gateway to invasive species information; covering Federal, State, local, and international sources.

Does Climate Change Promote Invasive Species? (Feb 3, 2010)
Harvard Magazine.
Researchers have found that non-native plants, and especially invasive species, thrive during times of climate change because they're better able to adjust the timing of annual activities like flowering and fruiting. The study Favorable Climate Change Response Explains Non-Native Species' Success in Thoreau's Woods used a dataset that began with Henry David Thoreau’s cataloging of plants around Walden Pond in the 1850s, and where the average annual temperature has increased by about four degrees Fahrenheit.

Forests Are Growing Faster, Climate Change Appears To Driving Accelerated Growth (Feb 1, 2010)
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Shorelines.
A new study has found evidence that forests in the Eastern U.S. are growing faster than they have in the past 225 years. The paper focuses on the drivers of the accelerated tree growth and the chief factor appears to be climate change, more specifically, the rising levels of atmospheric CO2, higher temperatures and longer growing seasons.

Obama Administration Officials to Meet with Great Lakes Governors Regarding Asian Carp on Feb 8, 2010 (Jan 28, 2010)
Executive Office of the President. Council on Environmental Quality.
Obama Administration officials will meet with Great Lakes Governors regarding the threat of Asian carp to the Great Lakes. The meeting will focus on discussing strategies to combat the spread of Asian carp and ensure coordination and the most effective response across all levels of government.

The Secret Life of Smoke in Fostering Rebirth and Renewal of Burned Landscape (Jan 27, 2010)
American Chemical Society.
An international team of scientists are reporting discovery of a plant growth inhibitor in smoke. Interaction of the inhibitor compounds and other compounds may ensure that seeds remain dormant until environmental conditions are best for germination.

Species Profile -- Dutch Elm Disease
USDA. NAL. National Invasive Species Information Center.
Dutch elm disease is a lethal fungal disease of elm trees which spread is by the elm bark beetle. This disease is responsible for demise of "Herbie", New England's largest and oldest elm tree. The tree was estimated to be 240 years old, battled Dutch elm disease for 50 years, but lost the fight on Jan 19.

Impact of Nature's Invading Aliens Measured for First Time (Jan 22, 2010)
International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Invasive alien species, ranging from disease and plants, to rats and goats, are one of the top three threats to life on this planet, according to a new publication coordinated by the Global Invasive Species Programme, of which IUCN is a partner. The authors looked at 57 countries and found that, on average, there are 50 non-indigenous species per country which have a negative impact on biodiversity.

New Support for the Fight Against Invasive Mussels (Jan 21, 2010)
DOI. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific and Mountain-Prairie Regions, collaborating with other partners, have provided funding to enhance regional efforts to detect and prevent the spread of invasive mussels. These projects are aimed at implementing the new Quagga - Zebra Mussel Action Plan for Western U.S. Waters (QZAP) (2009; PDF | 799 KB), approved by the national Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force (ANSTF).

Salazar Moves to Ban Importation and Interstate Transfer of Burmese Python and Eight Other Giant Invasive Snakes (PDF | 34 KB) (Jan 20, 2010)
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose to list the Burmese python and eight other large constrictor snakes that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems as "injurious wildlife" under the Lacey Act. More than 1,200 of the snakes have been removed from Everglades National Park since 2000, where they threaten many imperiled species and other wildlife.

USDA Provides Funding to Cooperators for Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention (Jan 19, 2010)
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
USDA has allocated $45 million, provided by Section 10201 of the 2008 Farm Bill for projects to build and preserve critical plant health safeguarding initiatives across America. These projects include enhancing plant pest and disease analysis and survey, strengthening pest identification and technology, safeguarding nursery production and increasing related public outreach and education.

America's Great Waters Coalition Launched
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.
On Dec 8, more than 30 organizations launched the America's Great Waters Coalition. The goals of the Coalition are to make the restoration of the nation's great waters a national priority; secure sustainable dedicated funding for restoration; and enact and ensure sound implementation of restoration projects, including invasive species.

Panama Canal and Singapore at Highest Risk of Invasive Species (Jan 13, 2010)
PortWorld.
Scientists have developed a new map of shipping networks that they say will act as a useful tool in preventing the threat of invasive species. They analyzed the routes of over 16,000 cargo ships through onboard automatic transmitters to map the links between the ports they visited, and used the data to create a list of the ports with the highest risk for the introduction of invasive species.

National Invasive Species Awareness Week -- Jan 10-14, 2010 in D.C.
The conference theme "Invasive Species: Change and Dollars," will be organized thematically and in the context of securing adequate resources to address invasive species in a time of global change. The inter-related themes will be climate change, energy (biofuels), and the "green" economy.

Biodiversity: Invasive Species Multiply in U.S. Waterways (Jan 4, 2010)
Inter Press Service News Agency.
As 2010, the UN's International Year of Biodiversity, gets underway, a fight against some of the most damaging invasive species in U.S. waterways is heating up.

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