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This collection of publications in NAL's Digital Repository provides access to and addresses a number of topics concerning the gypsy and the related brown-tail moths, from biological control methods to tree banding to quarantine practices. The bulk of the documents were published from 1891 to 1923 by various agencies in the area of the initial infestation, including the State Board of Agriculture for Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island, but also include some more modern USDA publications.

Contains historical maps of feral swine populations by county (1982-2022).

Seeds that float in the air can hitchhike in unusual places – like the air-intake grille of a refrigerated shipping container. A team of researchers from the USDA Forest Service, Arkansas State University, and other organizations recently conducted a study that involved vacuuming seeds from air-intake grilles over two seasons at the Port of Savannah, Georgia. The viability of such seeds is of significant interest to federal regulatory and enforcement agencies, and the project required a shared stewardship approach. Their findings were recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Seeds from 30 plant taxa were collected from the air-intake grilles, including seeds of wild sugarcane (Saccharum spontaneum), a grass on the USDA's Federal Noxious Weed List. (scroll to view list on Federal Noxious Weeds Program). Federal noxious weeds pose immediate, significant threats to agriculture, nursery, and forestry industries. Although a lovely grass and useful in its native range, wild sugarcane has the potential to join cogongrass, stiltgrass, and other nonnative species that have become extremely widespread in the U.S.

See also: Weed I.D. and Options for Control for more species

See also: Home and Garden - Weeds for more fact sheets

In 2016 NASS began to collect data on honey bee health and pollination costs. Provides reliable, up-to-date statistics help track honey bee mortality.

You can take actions to prevent the further spread of AIS. It is essential for boaters and recreational users of lakes and ponds to be vigilant!

Rodrigo Krugner, an entomologist with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Parlier, California, has found an innovative way to control insect pests in California vineyards: tapping into the vibrational signals they use as mating calls.

Krugner’s efforts have mainly focused on glassy-winged sharpshooters, which spread a bacterium that causes Pierce’s disease in vineyards and costs the California grape industry an estimated $104 million a year. Growers use chemical sprays to control the pests, but insecticides also kill beneficial insects, leave residues, and become less effective as the insects develop resistance.

Changing climate conditions have bearing on every aspect of biological invasions, in some cases worsening existing problems. Climate change is creating new pathways for invasive species to be introduced, such as shipping routes that open up as sea ice retreats. Warmer temperatures can allow existing invasive species to expand their range into habitat that is currently too cool. Similarly, impacts to native species and people may change if new conditions affect invasive species abundance. Climate change may make existing invasive species control tools less effective, such as aquatic barriers that require minimum water flows.

In addition to intergovernmental efforts and research to detect and monitor aquatic nuisance species (ANS), the EPA addresses ANS using numerous regulatory tools.

The EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Vessel General Permit (VGP) and Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) regulate discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels, including ballast water and hull fouling, which are both pathways for introductions of aquatic nuisance species. The EPA and the Department of Defense are jointly developing the Uniform National Discharge Standards for vessels of the Armed Forces which will also regulate ballast water and hull fouling to help control the introduction of aquatic nuisance species.

Note: On December 4, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, which includes as Title IX the

Scientists have long warned that Hawaii’s cover of nonnative shrubs is kindling waiting to burn.
See also: Additional Invasive Species related articles

Learn how the U.S. government is responding to the Hawaii wildfires affecting Maui and the Big Island.

Publication NA–FR–01–11.