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Prepared for the Office of Management and Budget.
See also: NISC and NISC Secretariat Products for additional related resources.

See also: Ecological Risk Screening Summaries for more species summaries

The Flood and Storm Tracker (FaST) maps were created to help assess impacts on nonindigenous aquatic species distributions due to flooding associated with storms. Storm surge and flood events can assist expansion and distribution of nonindigenous aquatic species through connection of adjacent watersheds, backflow of water upstream of impoundments, increased downstream flow, and/or creation of freshwater bridges along coastal regions. These maps will help natural resource managers determine potential new locations for individual species, or to develop a watchlist of potential new species within a watershed.

This week, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Plant Industry (DPI), along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), announced the eradication of the giant African land snail (GALS) from Broward and Miami-Dade counties. This eradication announcement marks only the second time this pest has been eradicated in the world, both in South Florida. For the past 11 years, the FDACS Division of Plant Industry has worked toward eradication through multiple rounds of visual surveys and inspections, K-9 detector dog surveys and inspections, manual collection and treatment programs. In total, 168,538 snails were collected from 32 core population areas comprised of thousands of properties.

The giant African land snail is a highly invasive agricultural pest, known to feed on over 500 varieties of plants. They also pose a risk to humans and animals by carrying rat lung worm, a parasite that can cause meningitis in humans. Both the USDA and DPI will continue to remain vigilant in their commitments to safeguard American agriculture through surveys, early detection, and rapid response. The public should continue to watch for the snails and report suspects to the FDACS-DPI hotline at 1-888-397-1517.

FLIP (Florida Invasive Plants) is designed to be a mobile field guide that can be accessed by a computer, smart phone, tablet, or other device with internet browser capability. Developed in partnership with the University of South Florida (USF), FLIP currently contains 20 plants: 19 of the 2011 Category I invasive species and one of the 2011 Category II invasive species, as designated by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC).

The vision of the Florida Invasive Species Council is to be a leading resource and partner for advancing invasive plant management in Florida. The mission of the Florida Invasive Species Council is to reduce the impacts of invasive plants in Florida through the exchange of scientific, educational, and technical information.
Note: In an effort to retire outdated invasive species terminology, the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC) formally changed its name to the Florida Invasive Species Council (FISC).

The Florida Python Challenge® (August 9-18, 2024) is an exciting conservation effort which helps protect the rare Everglades habitat and the animals that live there from these invasive, nonnative snakes.
See also: Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez Announces Registration Is Open for the 2024 Florida Python Challenge (May 30, 2024)

Researchers have published a first- of-its-kind study that shows that near-infrared (NIR) spectrum cameras can help python hunters more effectively track down these invasive snakes, especially at night.

ARS vaccine helps to defend rare bird from avian influenza. Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently joined other federal agencies to take emergency action to protect one of America’s endangered species, the California condor.

ARS Science Leads Way in Screening at the Molecular Level. Fungal pathogens represent a large and economically significant challenge to crops worldwide. The challenge is so great, in fact, diseases caused by fungal pathogens can cause crop losses of 10-20% (worth $100-$200 billion) each year. Historically, a variety of biological, chemical, and mechanical methods have been used to fight fungal diseases, Lately, though, researchers have focused on molecular methods to develop disease-resistant crops, which would reduce the need for, and damage caused by, chemical fungicides.

A new approach to tackling the spotted-wing drosophila involves manipulating the behavior of these insects. The spotted-wing drosophila is an invasive pest of fruits that infests ripe, ready-to-eat fruit. The pest poses a significant threat to farmers because it is very difficult to control with standard pesticides. ARS scientists have devised a solution involves manipulating the behavior of these insects by disguising healthy fruit as being infected with an unappealing pathogen.

This Story from NAL's Collection invites readers to appreciate the complex history of foot-and-mouth disease and the relationship between the United States and Mexico. It briefly chronicles the 1946-1954 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Mexico and how the United States and Mexican governments worked together to eradicate the disease.

The FHAAST biological control program (FHAAST-BC) is part of the broader Forest Service's National Strategic Framework for Invasive Species Management as well as regional plans dealing with invasive species. The focus of the FHAAST-BC is to demonstrate a strong leadership role in the development and implementation of biological control technologies to manage wide spread infestations of invasive species and to use biological control as a viable component for integrated invasive pest management efforts.

The Forest Health Assessment & Applied Sciences Team (FHAAST) produces publications, reports, and posters that address forest health-related disturbances. Topics include forest insects and diseases, native and invasive species, biological control, biopesticides, aerial survey, forest disturbance detection and risk assessment.

Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) is a national program designed to determine the status, changes, and trends in indicators of forest condition on an annual basis. The FHM program uses data from ground plots and surveys, aerial surveys, and other biotic and abiotic data sources and develops analytical approaches to address forest health issues that affect the sustainability of forest ecosystems.

Treesearch is an online system for sharing free, full text publications by Research and Development scientists in the USDA Forest Service. Included in Treesearch are scholarly works authored by the agency’s scientists and published by journals, in conference proceedings, or in books. Treesearch also offers scholarly works published by the agency which may or may not have been authored by agency researchers.