Invasive Species Resources

The University of Guam received another round of funding in September under the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Protection Act for the surveying and monitoring of invasive pests of solanaceous crops that are on USDA’s Priority Pest List for 2021. Solanaceae, or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that include tomato, eggplant, and chili pepper. As part of the national effort this year, UOG was awarded $38,000 to survey and monitor for two pests: Tuta absoluta, which is a moth and type of leafminer capable of destroying an entire crop, and Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2, which is a bacterium, known as a bacterial wilt, that infects through the roots and is deadly to plants.

The work through UOG better prepares the island to manage these invasive species if or when they arrive. "There are certain pathogens and insects that have a reputation of being really bad. These are two of them," said project lead Robert L. Schlub, a researcher and faculty member of UOG Cooperative Extension and Outreach with a doctorate in plant pathology. "They aren’t on Guam, but if they show up, we want to know so we can help get them under control."

Research led by Queen’s University Belfast has shown that invasive species, such as the grey squirrel, European rabbit and Japanese knotweed, have cost the UK economy over £5 billion over the past 40-50 years. This is one of the highest totals in Europe. Invasive species, those introduced and spreading outside of their native range as a result of human activities, are a growing threat to environments worldwide. Environmental impacts of invasive species, one of the main causes of biodiversity loss, are well-studied. However, few studies have summarised their economic impacts. This study is the largest and most up-to-date combination of economic costs of biological invasions in the UK. The results have been published in the journal NeoBiota.

Published recently as an open access encyclopaedic book, Biological Invasions in South Africa provides the reader with information on 1422 alien species including, among others, plants, birds, mammals, fish, terrestrial invertebrates, invasive marine organisms and disease-causing microorganisms that have naturalised or become invasive in the country. Comprising 31 chapters, it covers themes such as the history of research in South Africa, detailed accounts of major groups of plants and animals, policy development, the development of a robust ecological theory about biological invasions, the effectiveness of management interventions and scenarios for the future regarding biological invasions in the country. Biological Invasions in South Africa can be downloaded for free at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-32394-3.

The Niagara Region’s Aquatic and Riparian Invasive Species Control Database (created by Lyn A. Brown as part of a Master of Sustainability thesis at Brock University) provides a baseline for the 2017/18 state of aquatic and riparian invasive management activities in the Niagara Region of Ontario. An interactive GIS map uses the database information to show where those control efforts are occurring, and users can filter points on the map by invasive species, control type, control effectiveness, or organization.

North American beavers have wiped out 30 percent of forests along rivers and streams in Tierra del Fuego, a remote archipelago at the southern tip of South America, causing the greatest landscape change to these fragile forests in the last 10,000 years. It’s no surprise, then, that the governments of Chile and Argentina want the invasive beavers gone. But eradicating them has proven to be difficult, researchers found, because it requires the participation of every single landowner in the area.