North American Bat Death Toll Exceeds 5.5 Million From White-nose Syndrome (Jan 17, 2012)
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.
On the verge of another season of winter hibernating bat surveys, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and partners estimate that at least 5.7 million to 6.7 million bats have now died from white-nose syndrome. Biologists expect the disease to continue to spread.

Salazar Announces Ban on Importation and Interstate Transportation of Four Giant Snakes that Threaten Everglades (Jan 17, 2012)
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a rule that would ban the importation and interstate transportation of four nonnative constrictor snakes that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems across the U.S. The final rule -- which incorporates public comments, economic analysis, and environmental assessment -- lists the Burmese python, the yellow anaconda, and the northern and southern African pythons as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act (PDF | 91 KB) in order to restrict their spread in the wild in the U.S. It is expected to publish in the Federal Register in the coming days.

National Ocean Policy Draft Implementation Plan (Jan 12, 2012)
The White House. President Barack Obama. National Ocean Council.
As part of President Obama's National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes, the National Ocean Council has released a draft National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan (PDF | 729 KB) to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. The draft Implementation Plan describes more than 50 actions the Federal Government will take to improve the health of the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes. Our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes are subject to substantial pressures and face significant environmental challenges, including those resulting from invasive species. Public comment period is open until Feb 27, 2012.

Notre Dame Researchers Demonstrate New DNA Detection Technique (Dec 16, 2011)
A team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame have demonstrated a novel DNA detection method that could prove suitable for many real-world applications. The new technique, laser transmission spectroscopy, is cable of detecting species-specific DNA where the presence of one invasive species was differentiated from a closely related invasive sister species.

NASA - Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Changes (Dec 14, 2011)
By 2100, global climate change will modify plant communities covering almost half of Earth's land surface and will drive the conversion of nearly 40 percent of land-based ecosystems from one major ecological community type -- such as forest, grassland or tundra -- toward another, according to a new NASA and university computer modeling study. The ecological stress could give a boost to invasive species, but at the expense of natives, reducing the diversity of plants and animals overall.