Resource Search

Provides access to all outreach publications (includes many invasive species related) currently available from USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in print, PDF format, or both. The publications are organized according to category, title, date, item type, and publication number (if applicable).

After weeks of searching, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) entomologists–—using a radio tag provided by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and a trap developed by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service–— have located and eradicated the first Asian giant hornet (AGH) nest ever found in the United States. For months, WSDA had been trying to find the nest they knew must exist near Blaine, WA, because of AGH detections in the area. But finding the nest proved extremely challenging since the hornets build nests in forested areas, typically in an underground cavity.

On May 14, Director Reilly signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of the Navy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The MOA provides for continuity of operations for the USFWS and the USGS with construction of new office and lab facilities on the Guam National Wildlife Refuge in conjunction with DOD’s construction of a Marine Corps firing range. "The USGS has a long history of collaborating with the Department of Defense in support of U.S. facilities and force readiness in the INDOPACOM Area of Responsibility. One of our signature efforts ongoing today is a collaboration with DOD, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the local government in minimizing the impacts of the invasive Brown Treesnakes (BTS) and improving BTS controls on military lands on Guam," said Jim Reilly, director of the USGS.

The high winds, heavy rains and storm tides caused by hurricanes and tropical storms can rapidly change the landscape of an area affected by a storm. Hurricane-related flooding can also result in a slow transformation of ecosystems found on land and in water, as floodwaters can carry invasive wildlife and plant species into new regions, accelerating their spread.

From March to May 2024, scientists from the USGS will install baiting platforms for invasive grass carp and equipment for monitoring fish movement in pool 19 of the Upper Mississippi River. Pool 19 contains 30,466 acres of aquatic habitat, extending 46.3 miles from Lock & Dam 19 located near Keokuk, Iowa upstream to Lock & Dam 18 located near Burlington, Iowa.

Project completion is expected by December 2024, with results being publicly available in 2025. This project is supported through the U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats Research Program, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Recent hurricanes may have spread non-native freshwater plants and animals into new water bodies, where some of them can disrupt living communities or change the landscape. To help land managers find and manage these flood-borne newcomers, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have created four online maps, one for each hurricane. These “storm tracker” map sets, on which users can see the potential spread of any of 226 non-native aquatic plant and animal species during the 2017 hurricane season. For more information, see Flood and Storm Tracker (FaST) Maps.

Natural resource managers in British Columbia discovered several adult male and female European green crabs on Haida Gwaii this past July. Alarm bells immediately went off for biologists in Alaska. The archipelago of Haida Gwaii, off the coast of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, is very close to Alaska. The July discovery is the closest confirmed finding of the invasive crustacean since it was first detected in the San Francisco Bay area in 1989.

The soybean cyst nematode, an invasive parasite that attacks soybean roots – causes over $1 billion of damage each year in the U.S. Harnessing beneficial fungi that target these nematodes could be a solution. Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are stepping up their efforts to control agricultural pests, without the use of chemical pesticides. One promising solution are fungi carried by the pests themselves in a symbiotic relationship.

A new study shows that vaccination may reduce the impact of white-nose syndrome in bats, marking a milestone in the international fight against one of the most destructive wildlife diseases in modern times. "This is a significant step forward in developing control mechanisms to combat the devastating spread of white-nose syndrome in our important bat populations," said USGS Director Jim Reilly. "Being able to deliver an oral vaccine during hibernation could be a game changer in our ability to combat one of the deadliest wildlife diseases in modern times." White-nose syndrome is caused by a fungus called Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or Pd, and has killed millions of North American bats since 2006. The disease is spreading rapidly and there is no cure.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in People (VBD National Strategy). As directed by the 2019 Kay Hagan Tick Act—named after the U.S. Senator who died due to complications from a tickborne illness—HHS led a four-year process with civilian agencies and defense departments to deliver this strategy. Co-led by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the strategy identifies and describes federal priorities to detect, prevent, respond to, and control diseases and conditions caused by vectors in the United States. This VBD National Strategy represents the largest formal federal coordination effort focused on vector-borne disease prevention and control with contributions by over 50 representatives across 17 federal agencies.
See also: U.S. Health and Human Services Press Release on VBD National Strategy (Feb 6, 2024)

A novel control strategy could be in store for spotted wing drosophila, an invasive vinegar fly species from Asia that attacks more than 100 fruit crops, including blueberry, cherry, blackberry, and grape. Two- to three-millimeters long, the spotted wing drosophila fly first drew attention in 2008 in California. Before long, it had spread to other western states, inflicting losses of 50 to 100 percent in berry crops there. Two years later, it had spread to the eastern United States, wreaking similar havoc and forcing growers to retaliate with intensive insecticide spraying. Researchers, meanwhile, began learning all they could about the invader. One such scientist is Blair Sampson, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist who specializes in integrated pest management approaches for small-fruit crops. Sampson is with the ARS Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Laboratory in Poplarville, Mississippi.

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $1,549,891 in federal funding for the University of Virginia (UVA) and Virginia Tech to improve resources for the U.S. agricultural industry and rural communities. This funding was awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics and Tools (FACT) Initiative, which focuses on data-driven solutions to address problems facing the agricultural industry. Funding includes $499,952 for the University of Virginia to better understand America's agricultural commodity flows and their role in the spread of invasive species, which is important for food security and economic stability. This project will help provide policy makers with guidance to better address vulnerabilities in food systems.

A chance discovery in an Ohio woodland has turned into a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, and multi-national effort to piece together a puzzle and understand a scourge that is killing trees by the thousands in northern states east of the Great Plains. The leaves of young beech trees are failing somehow. Scientists have figured out what causes the malady; it’s the 'how' that has them scratching their heads. Beech trees are one of the most common trees in America's northern and northeastern forests. Their nut crop feeds birds and other animals, and its wood is prized for bentwood furniture. The symptoms of beech leaf disease were plain to see – sunken dark spots on the leaves, which eventually died – but opinions differed on the cause. Was it bacterial, fungal, or viral? Then, a plant pathologist working for the State of Ohio noticed wiggly things in the leaf lesions. They turned out to be nematodes, microscopic worms that live in the soil, that had somehow managed to make it to the tree canopy 40-50 feet above ground. Nematode samples were sent to Beltsville, MD, for analysis and identification at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory in Beltsville, MD. The nematode, Litylenchus crenatae, turned out to be native to Japan – the first population of L. crenatae found in the Western Hemisphere. The curious thing is that it's not a tree-killer in Japan.