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The Alien Forest Pest Explorer (AFPE) is an interactive web tool which provides detailed spatial data describing pest distributions and host inventory estimates for damaging, non-indigenous forest insect and disease pathogens currently established in the U.S. The database is maintained as a joint effort of Purdue University, the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, and the U.S. Forest Service Forest Health Protection.

Center staff design and publish comprehensive mobile applications that engage users with invasive species, forest health, natural resource and agricultural management. Previous apps were designed for specific areas of the U.S. Two new apps are available for reporting invasive species throughout the U.S.:

• EDDMapS app  - the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System app will allow invasive species reports to be submitted from a smartphone while outdoors. Anyone can report an invasive species sighting, submit photos, provide sighting details, and document a negative survey. In addition to its reporting function, the app contains information on the top invasive species including common names, scientific names, general descriptions, habitats, and reference photos to aid with identification.
• EDDMapS Pro app - designed for professionals; includes the ability to download offline map data if users are going to be in areas where internet coverage may not be available.

Terrestrial invasive plants are expected to shift their ranges in response to changing climate. This tool provides lists of terrestrial invasive plants expected to expand their ranges into the chosen county or state with climate change by 2040-2060. Users can filter the list to species currently observed within a chosen geographic proximity to the focal county or state.

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 Great Lakes Detector of Invasive Aquatics in Trade (GLDIATR) is an innovative approach developed by the Great Lakes Commission that uses advanced technology to search the internet for sites where aquatic invasive species can be purchased and shipped to the Great Lakes region. This information can be used by invasive species managers to inform and help target a variety of activities including outreach and education, risk assessment, monitoring and surveillance, and enforcement.

ITP supports PPQ in its efforts to prevent the entry, spread, and establishment of invasive pests in the U.S. by delivering interactive, electronic identification tools.

See also: IDAids which supports identification of plant pest of concern to PPQ. Includes over 3,000 vetted ID Aids includes both web and app-based image galleries, keys, fact sheets, screening aids, pest alerts, molecular identification tools, and more. All groups of plant pests are represented. Use Search IDAids to quickly find useful, quality resources for identification and screening of any type of plant pest. Search by either scientific or common pest name, and then instantly filter your results.

IveGot1 is more than just an app, it is an integrated invasive species reporting and outreach campaign for Florida that includes the app, a website with direct access to invasive species reporting and a hotline 1-888-IVEGOT1 for instant reports of live animals. By reporting sightings of invasive animals and plants, Florida agencies can better assess the extent of the infestations and hopefully eradicate new infestations before they become huge problems. The goal of IveGot1 is to make identification and reporting easy and efficient as possible.

iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over 750,000 scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! By recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. Experience and record nature with species identification technology by downloading the iNaturalist app (Android and iPhone) --  See Getting started:

• Find Wildlife - it can be any plant, animal, fungi, slime mold or evidence of life found in the wild
• Take Pictures - be sure to notice the location
• Share Observations - upload your findings to iNaturalist
   

Seek by iNaturalist is an educational tool and provides a kid-friendly alternative. Seek allows you to identify plants and animals from your photos by harnessing image recognition technology, drawing from existing data collected from observations on iNaturalist (no registration is required, and no user data is collected).

This interactive Lucid key and accompanying fact sheets provides a resource that can help those who wish to identify species of concern and to undertake management efforts to minimise their impact. Provides information for 100 of the most important invasive plant species in the East African Region.

The Laurel Wilt Public Dashboard story map – a collaboration between the Georgia Forestry Commission, multiple branches of the Forest Service, and other state forestry agencies – shows the annual spread of the disease. The story map shows that new detections occur mostly in the Coastal Plain, not in the Appalachian mountains where sassafras reaches its greatest sizes.

The National Genomics Center for Wildlife and Fish Conservation is a state-of-the art facility for advanced research providing expertise in DNA sequencing and environmental and forensic DNA sampling. Environmental DNA (eDNA) can be collected from bodies of water and offers great potential for monitoring and detecting species of interest. The Center is designed for cross-agency partnerships to provide cost-effective and reliable genetic and genomic data for species monitoring.

State and Federal agencies collaborate in a national integrated pest management (IPM) program called the Slow the Spread Program (STS) to reduce the spread rate of Lymantria dispar and limit its impacts. Slow the Spread is one of the world’s largest and most successful integrated pest management programs. 
See related resource: National Slow The Spread (STS) Program

Ohio State University Extension has released a new app for spotting and tracking invasive species -- non-native organisms such as Asian carps, purple loosestrife and Asian longhorned beetle -- to try to keep them from setting up beachheads and hurting the economy and environment. By using the free Great Lakes Early Detection Network app, a person can take pictures of suspected invasive species -- whether of farm, forest or water -- and upload the pictures and locations for verification. Based on this early warning, scientists can send out alerts, map the spread and figure out a battle plan.

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.

If you have a smartphone, the power to protect the natural heritage of New Jersey is at your fingertips! You can use it to help stop the spread of invasive plants, animals and even pathogens that threaten the natural systems and economy of the Garden State.

This tool is designed to help users differentiate between invasive hornets, specifically Asian giant hornet, and other common non-targets found in the U.S., including bees and wasps. Included are fact sheets and a filterable image gallery that can be used as a rudimentary key.

ITP is pleased to announce the release of North American Hornet Screening Tool. Hornets in the genus Vespa play a critical role as predators in their native habitats, but in North America these species may have a disastrous impact on agriculture by reducing populations of important pollinators such as the honey bee. Hornets also pose a serious health risk to humans because of their powerful sting. North American Hornet Screening Tool is designed for anyone who may encounter these species in the U.S., including the Asian giant hornet (AGH, V. mandarinia). 

North American Hornet Screening Tool includes fact sheets and an interactive image gallery to support screening for Asian giant hornet and other potentially invasive hornet (Vespa) species. The interactive gallery can be used as a rudimentary key: by choosing one or more of the filters at the top, you can easily narrow down the images to only those that may match your specimen. A more in-depth version of this tool providing specialized information for identifiers on all exotic hornet (Vespa) species, will be released in 2022.

Provides free on-line tools to identify species, teach and study nature's wonders, report findings, build maps, process images, and contribute to and learn from a growing, interactive encyclopedia of life with 851,136 species pages and 681,390 maps.
See also: IDnature Guides: Identification Guides and Checklists of Plants and Animals