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The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Water Resources Division announces a new grant program to aid in the control or eradication of aquatic invasive plants in Michigan’s inland lakes. This year, approximately $100,000 will be available through the Aquatic Invasive Plant (AIP) Control Grant for the reimbursement of permit fees required for projects to control or eradicate inland lake aquatic invasive plant species using physical, biological or chemical control activities that occur in 2019. The grant handbook and application process are currently being developed. The handbook will contain detailed information on eligibility, instructions for applying for the grant, and items to be included with the grant application. Grant applications will be accepted from June 1 through July 1. The handbook will be made available on the Michigan Aquatic Invasive Plant Control Grant Program webpage on June 1.

A portion of Los Angeles County has been placed under quarantine for the Tau fruit fly (Zeugodacus tau group) following the detection of more than 20 flies in the unincorporated area of Stevenson Ranch, near the city of Santa Clarita.

This the first Tau fruit fly quarantine ever in the Western Hemisphere. The fly is native to Asia and is a serious pest for agriculture and natural resources, with a very wide host range, including numerous fruits and vegetables as well as a select range of native plants in California.

For the last seven decades, Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) has been leading the fight against nematodes—invasive, microscopic worms that can destroy seasons' worth of crops. However, researchers had been working in a facility that lacked the infrastructure to keep pace with their innovative work. On August 1, 2019, thanks to a $1.2 million grant from New York State and another $400,000 in federal funding, CALS cut the ribbon on the new Golden Nematode Quarantine Facility, located on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY. The facility is the only research program in North America with expertise in biology, resistance breeding and management of potato-cyst nematodes. At the lab, Cornell scientists work in tandem with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Research Service (ARS).

Maryland renamed the northern snakehead to the Chesapeake Channa in April 2024. The name change aims to increase public interest in eating the fish and control its population. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will begin changing the name on January 1, 2025.
See also: Senate Bill 207 / House Bill 19

Forest Service scientists have published a guide synthesizing best practices for controlling these tiny bugs. It promotes a strategy of combining insecticide use with adelgid-eating insects.

See also: Invasive/Noxious Plants for more resources.

A "New Pest Advisory" provides information on new pests and diseases that have become established in Hawaii. Individuals can help reduce the spread of these pests and diseases by being aware of their signs and symptoms and not moving them to other islands in the State.

See also: New Pest Advisories for information on new pests and diseases that have become established in Hawaii.

See also: New Pest Advisories for information on new pests and diseases that have become established in Hawaii.

Interactions between invasive species and climate change present new challenges for resource management. Prior to a new study by NE CASC fellow Evelyn Beaury and her collaborators, however, it was unclear what the common concerns, strategies, limitations, and research needs were for managing invasive species in a changing climate. In their nationwide survey of invasive species managers from government, non-profit, and private organizations, Beaury's team found that while the majority of managers are very concerned about the influence of climate change on invasive species management, the organizations they represent are typically far less engaged with this issue. This study illustrates that the complicating challenge of climate change may open a new avenue for elevating the efficiency and success of current invasive species management efforts if a collaborative approach is adopted in this area.

ITP, in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership, is pleased to release The BeeMD at idtools.org. The BeeMD will help beekeepers and others concerned with bees quickly identify honey bee health issues (including colony collapse disorder), through an interactive, visually rich, informative, and easy to use website. This release includes much of the content from the original website first published in 2016. On this new platform, the “visual key” has been completely restructured and streamlined, and the entire website redesigned and expanded, offering additional informational, visual, and supportive content.

You could say that preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) is a team sport. While it takes the professional efforts of natural resource managers, AIS specialists and others in the environmental field, it also takes the cooperation of the public. Yet for community members to take necessary actions, they must first be aware of the negative impacts AIS can have and how to stop their spread. Communicating with them about AIS in an effective way is vital.

New research from Wisconsin Sea Grant Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Campbell, University of Wisconsin-Madison Associate Professor Bret Shaw and consultant Barry T. Radler sheds new light on such communication. The researchers analyzed which communication strategies are most effective and which may pose unintended problems. The team's findings were published online Aug 14 in the journal Environmental Management (“Testing Emphasis Message Frames and Metaphors on Social Media to Engage Boaters to Learn about Preventing the Spread of Zebra Mussels”).

Invasive tegu lizards from South America are currently established in four locations in Florida and negatively impact native, ground-nesting animals in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Two newly published research studies from the U.S. Geological Survey show that, depending on their size and body condition, tegu lizards could survive in cooler, northern climates.

The Argentine black and white tegu is a large lizard from South America currently inhabiting the Florida counties of Charlotte, Hillsborough, Miami Dade and St. Lucie. Tegus are introduced to the U.S. through the pet trade and then likely released from captivity into the environment. "Several lines of evidence from recent USGS research studies published from 2018 to 2021 now provide clear indication for managers that the entire southeast portion of the United States is at risk of tegu establishment if lizard releases continue unabated," said Amy Yackel Adams, a USGS research ecologist.

New rules to combat the spread of aquatic invasive species in New Mexico went into effect July 11, 2017. Changes include:

• Watercraft owners are required to stop at an inspection station whenever one is set up and in operation.
• Mandatory inspection and, if necessary, decontamination is required of all out-of-state registered watercraft or watercraft re-entering the state of New Mexico.
• All boaters are required to "pull the plug" and completely drain watercraft when transporting on a New Mexico roadway.

Invasive species cause biodiversity loss and about $120 billion in annual damages in the U.S. alone. Despite plentiful evidence showing that invasive species can change food webs, how invaders disrupt food webs and native species through time has remained unclear. Now, thanks to a collaborative study conducted by researchers representing the University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, there is new insight into how invasive species progressively affect native food webs.

Researchers from Dickinson College and the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated on field research to understand the ability of human searchers to detect the invasive brown treesnake (BTS) on the island of Guam. Due to their nocturnal and tree-dwelling habits, these snakes are extremely difficult to detect, especially when they are present at low densities in an area. A new study "Use of visual surveys and radiotelemetry reveals sources of detection bias for a cryptic snake at low densities" published in the journal Ecosphere, helps explain why and provides valuable information on optimizing search methods and search locations that could be valuable if the BTS was accidentally introduced to a snake-free island.

This summer, state biologists from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) documented the presence of a new aquatic invasive species to New Hampshire. The spiny water flea (Bythotrephes longimanus) was documented on September 13 in the deepest location of Lake Winnipesaukee, in the Broads in Gilford, New Hampshire. Subsequent sampling also confirmed spiny water flea presence in Alton and Wolfeboro areas of the lake. State biologists believe this is a recent infestation.

Aquatic invasive species inflict millions of dollars of ecological and economic damage to the Great Lakes, with impacts on coastal industries, water quality, native fish and wildlife and human health. Recently, Blue Accounting, in partnership with state and federal agencies, launched a new suite of web-based resources and tools to support early detection of aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes. The earlier new aquatic invasive species are detected, the easier and less expensive it is to avoid potentially devastating consequences of a large invasion. The new tools released by the Blue Accounting initiative help target efforts to focus on high-risk species and locations across the 11,000 miles of shoreline and 94,000 miles of surface area that make up the Great Lakes basin.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researchers in Florida have developed “attract-and-kill” traps to control Asian citrus psyllids in the suburbs where citrus trees are popular landscape plantings.