Resource Search

Since 2002, forests in the southeastern U.S. have struggled against a disease called laurel wilt. In 18 years, laurel wilt has spread to 11 southeastern states and killed hundreds of millions of trees. A review article by USDA Forest Service scientist Rabiu Olatinwo reflects on the origins and spread of laurel wilt throughout the last several years. Olatinwo, a research plant pathologist at the SRS, published this research with recently retired plant pathologist Stephen Fraedrich and research entomologist Bud Mayfield in the journal Forests.

Research offers evidence that the economic costs associated with invasive species is in large part determined by the response time between arrival of a pest and the beginning of eradication or control efforts.

Citation: Alvarez, S. and D. Solís. 2018. "Rapid Response Lowers Eradication Costs of Invasive Species: Evidence from Florida." Choices. Quarter 4.

Read about Forest Service's research highlights. Can filter and sort by Topic, keywords, year, research unit, and more.
See also:  Additional highlights for related topics Pest Management and Plant Diseases

The $900,000 grant will help Virginia Tech researchers see if the spotted lanternfly can help spread a fungus that kills the tree-of-heaven. The goal of the grant is to develop a native fungus as a biocontrol for the tree-of-heaven. Researchers are investigating whether the spotted lanternfly could help transmit the fungus from tree to tree, reducing the need for human intervention.

The widely cited “tens rule” in invasion ecology suggests that approximately 10% of established, non-native species will become invasive–or display negative impacts—when introduced to new environments. This study demonstrates that the tens rule is a poor estimate of invasion rates on a global scale. Instead, a ‘twenties rule’ is a better rule of thumb, meaning that roughly 20% of all established, non-native species eventually become invasive

"Rooted in Research" is the Northern Research Station's science delivery platform, with events and products tailored to natural resource professionals, partners, collaborators, and engaged citizens throughout the Northeast and Midwest. The bimonthly Rooted in Research focuses on the management implications of the latest research for natural resource managers. This publication features synthesized scientific information for high-priority land management needs, delivering key science findings to people who make and influence decisions about managing land and natural resources.

Biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey are racing the clock to pull four species of native Hawaiian Honeycreeper forest birds back from the brink of extinction. Factors such as habitat loss, invasive species, and non-native predators have been fueling the birds' decline for centuries. However, introduced diseases, particularly avian malaria spread through mosquitos, which are not native to the Hawaiian Islands, coupled with climate change, are the greatest threat facing Hawaiian forest birds today. 

"As the climate warms and more mosquitoes move into the once malaria-free regions of the mountains, healthy birds are running out of places to escape the cycle of infection," said Eben Paxton, a research ecologist with the USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center (PIERC) in Hawai'i. Now, PIERC biologists are working with a range of partners, including other Interior Department bureaus and the Birds Not Mosquitos Coalition, to intercept the disease cycle using a novel conservation tool.

A map identifying the areas suitable for establishment of the spotted lanternfly (SLF) in the United States and other countries has been published in the Journal of Economic Entomology by Agricultural Research Service scientists. The SLF, originally from China, has spread to Korea and Japan, and has been found most recently in the United States in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Delaware. These insects are pests of many agricultural crops including almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, peaches, grapes and hops as well as hardwoods such as oak, walnut and poplar, among others. USDA and State partners have been working to contain SLF populations since 2014. There is the potential for far reaching economic damage if the SLF becomes widely established in the United States.

Seed banks can provide insight into a forest’s past and give land managers valuable information to help them plan for the forest’s future. For example, knowing which species may germinate after future fires is valuable, especially when nonnative invasive species in the seed bank could proliferate quickly following disturbances.

In this study, researchers analyzed the species composition of buried seeds and extant vegetation present in areas that have faced differing fire conditions over many years on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia.

Thousands of pigs in China have been dying since August 2018. The cause is a virus that infects a pig’s macrophages, a type of white blood cell that acts as a warrior against disease-causing invaders. This viral disease, called African swine fever, can wreak havoc in a pig’s body causing internal bleeding and resulting in almost 100 percent mortality of the infected pigs. Because African swine fever is highly contagious and deadly to pigs, economies and the food supply are being affected around the world.

African swine fever has been on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) radar for several years. S&T intensified vaccine research efforts in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in November 2018. The African Swine Fever Task Force was born, based out of S&T’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC).

Inadvertently introduced in the northeastern United States in the 1930s, mile-a-minute weed is a highly aggressive invasive plant that is replacing native species in many areas of the Nation. While a biocontrol agent has been identified, finding and reaching dense patches of mile-a-minute weeds has been a problem for land managers. The solution may be drones carrying environmentally friendly pods packed with tiny weevils.

USDA scientists have discovered that the spotted lanternfly, an invasive threat to fruit crops and many trees, may have an Achilles heel – an attraction to vibration. A native of China, the insect was discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since spread to 13 other states. Though beautiful as an adult, the insect is a voracious eater that feeds on woody and ornamental trees as well as a wide variety of crops and plants. Left unchecked, Pennsylvania alone could lose hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Richard Mankin, an entomologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, FL, and colleagues found a new way to potentially corral and control the pests. Their research was published in the Journal of Economic Entomology.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed more than six million bats over the past decade. WNS is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). Studies show that bats eat enough insect pests to save the U.S. corn industry more than $1 billion a year in crop damage and pesticide costs, and more than $3 billion per year to all agricultural production including forests.
 

To help fund the research needed to combat this deadly disease, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced $2.5 million in grants for research of high priority questions about WNS that will improve our ability to manage the disease and conserve affected bats.

Love them or hate them, there's no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology examines this non-native species from the inside out. What exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded from just 80 birds released in New York City's Central Park in 1890, peaking at an estimated 200 million breeding adults spread all across North America? The study appears in the journal Molecular Ecology - "Environmental correlates of genetic variation in the invasive European starling in North America."

Ash and elm trees play important roles in the U.S. economy, culture, and environment. In the eastern United States, elm (especially American elm) and ash trees are in trouble because of two threats: the emerald ash borer (an insect that attacks ash) and Dutch elm disease (caused by a fungus that sickens elms). These pests are causing ash and elm trees to die off quickly. Because elm and ash trees serve important ecological roles where they are found, the loss of these trees can lead to profound changes across urban and rural environments.