Vertebrate animals have hard internal backbones, and terrestrial vertebrate species include mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. When they spread to lands outside their native range, they can cause serious economic, ecological, and cultural problems. Examples range from Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park to mice and rats on Hawaiian and Alaskan islands to European starlings throughout most of the United States.
ITAP's Vertebrate Species Subcommittee (VSS) promotes communication and interagency coordination regarding biological invasions of terrestrial vertebrate animals. It aims to complement the work of other relevant coordinating bodies (e.g., Federal Feral Swine Task Force, Brown Tree Snake Technical Working Group) that address a narrower breadth of vertebrate invasive species. The Subcommittee’s scope includes all terrestrial invasive vertebrate taxa (including feral domestic animals) as well as semi-aquatic invasive vertebrate species that are not actively addressed by the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force.
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- Chair: Scott Goetz, APHIS-WS National Wildlife Research Center, scott.goetz@usda.gov
- Executive Secretary: Paul Heimowitz, U.S. Geological Survey, pheimowitz@usgs.gov