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For more than 30 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has worked with Vermont and New York to control this invasive species and protect Lake Champlain. Fortunately, sea lamprey woundings are now at an all-time low.

The U.S. Geological Survey provides natural-resource managers with scientific information, risk assessment, and tools that can help to improve surveillance, prevention, and control strategies for managing invasive carp.
Fact Sheet 2022–3012

The plot could have come from Hollywood — an insidious alien invader threatens to overrun the land, but intrepid scientists discover a secret weapon in the far-off, exotic land of Nepal and bring the pestilence to heel. But this is not fiction; it's true. The air potato plant (Dioscorea bulbifera) is an exotic vine from Asia that was introduced to Florida about 115 years ago to make medicine. After escaping from the lab, it multiplied and smothered native plant communities in all of Florida's 67 counties. It spread beyond to large swaths of land in the southeastern United States. All attempts to manage the air potato – mechanical, chemical, or physically gathering the bulbils — were unsuccessful; they were either too labor intensive and costly or caused collateral damage to native and endangered species. According to Min Rayamajhi, a plant pathologist at the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) Invasive Plant Research Laboratory (IPRL) in Fort Lauderdale, FL, the vines return every season, repeating the growth cycle and expanding the invasion at a rate of about 6 inches per day. Rayamajhi and retired ARS scientist Bob Pemberton traveled to Nepal and accidentally discovered the air potato beetle.

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.

A guide to selecting native plants desired by native bees. This framework can be used to assess pollinator friendliness of native plant species for forests, public lands, and other areas.

Injurious wildlife provision of the Lacey Act provides effective tool to halt the introduction and spread of species that have been identified as imminent and serious threats. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took action to help ensure 10 nonnative freshwater fish species and one nonnative freshwater crayfish species do not become established in the United States and damage native wildlife and habitats.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is announcing a $100,000 challenge to combat white-nose syndrome (WNS), a lethal fungus that has killed millions of bats in North America and pushed some native bat species to the brink of extinction. Funding will be awarded to individuals who identify innovative ways to permanently eradicate, weaken or disarm the disease.

There is no known cure for white-nose syndrome, but scientists worldwide are working together to study the disease and how it can be controlled. Much of this work has been conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. National Response to White-nose Syndrome, a broad, multi-agency effort led by the Service.

The deadline for individuals or teams to enter the challenge was Dec.31, 2019. Winning ideas will be the focus of future collaborations with scientists, designers and engineers to bring solutions to life. Additional information regarding rules and eligibility is available at White-nose Syndrome Challenge.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to list the tricolored bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species faces extinction due primarily to the range-wide impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting cave-dwelling bats across the continent.

Bats are essential for healthy ecosystems and contribute at least $3 billion annually to the U.S. agriculture economy through pest control and pollination. The growing extinction crisis highlights the importance of the ESA and efforts to conserve species before declines become irreversible.
See also: Related story (Sep 13, 2020) - How the USFWS and its partners are working to keep this little bat from vanishing forever

A framework from Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists can help managers decide if, when, and how to use eDNA sampling technology for invasive species monitoring or surveillance.

Citation: Morisette, Jeffrey; Burgiel, Stas; Franklin, Thomas; Wilcox, Taylor. 2022. Shedding light on shedded cells: Using eDNA sampling for surveillance of invasive species. Connected Science. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2 p.

According to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist and research leader Tracy Leskey, laboratory trials show that brown marmorated stink bugs are attracted to blue lights—lights that attract fewer non-target insect species. She also tested a combination of visually attractive blue lights with chemically attractive pheromones. These studies about the effectiveness of both light and pheromone-baited traps will help researchers develop more effective stink bug traps in the future.

Researchers investigate questions related to fisheries, climate change, invasive species, mercury pollution, land use, water quality, ozone depletion, and more.

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See also: Early Detection of Invasive Species in Northeast Temperate Network Parks for more field guides

The spongy moth, (Lymantria dispar), formerly known as the "gypsy moth," continues to spread throughout North America, threatening deciduous trees and impacting humans. This non-native, foliage-feeding insect currently occupies only about one-third of its possible host distribution in the United States. Efforts to reduce its impact and spread represent one of the largest and most successful federal and state agency integrated pest management programs against a forest pest.

This new General Technical Report (GTR), published by the Northern Research Station, synthesizes information about the Slow the Spread Program, its accomplishments, and provides a framework for future landscape-level integrated pest management.
See related resource: National Slow The Spread (STS) Program

Citation: Coleman, Tom W.; Liebhold, Andrew M., eds. 2023. Slow the spread: a 20-year reflection on the national Lymantria dispar integrated pest management program. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-212. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 130 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-212.

U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1251; Researched and funded by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.