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See also: Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) Publications for more resources

This report reviews developments in state laws and regulations governing invasive species in eleven states. It finds that invasive species laws and regulations are often fragmented and incomplete and have developed primarily on a species-by-species basis in response to crisis. As a result, they often fail to address potential future invaders or close off known invasion pathways. Fortunately, states have begun regulating invasion pathways and identifying species that may become invasive in the future due to climate change or other factors. States are increasingly creating interagency councils and management plans to coordinate these novel invasive species responses.

See also: Stop the Invasion Fact Sheet Set for more resources

See also: Stop the Invasion Fact Sheet Set for more resources

See also: Stop the Invasion Fact Sheet Set for more resources

With the Stop the Invasion Fact Sheet Set, students will read about six different invasive species, the damage they cause and how to stop their spread. The accompanying lessons and activities are aligned to California Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. This resource was funded through a Specialty Crop Block grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

Since arriving to the northern Atlantic Ocean less than 30 years ago, lionfish have quickly become one of the most widespread and voracious invasive species, negatively impacting marine ecosystems—particularly coral reefs—from the northeast coast of the United States to the Caribbean Islands. In a new study, an international research team including the California Academy of Sciences presents four new records of lionfish off the coast of Brazil, confirming the invasion of the predatory fish into the South Atlantic for the first time.

Publication NF-WF-10-01, 2nd Edition

Over recent decades, globalization has led to an increase in the international flow of people and goods, bringing people together but also bringing together species that have never coexisted before. Species that are introduced and successfully colonize areas outside their natural ranges are considered ‘invasive’ and can have devastating impacts on species native to the region. Invasive species can cause the decline or extinction of native species, outcompeting them for food, water and space, preying upon them or introducing them to new diseases.

Note: Complete text of the book by Albert R. Mead (1961. Albert R. Mead. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 257 pp.)

The arid and semiarid Great Basin of the western United States comprises parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon and can variously be described by its hydrology, topography, or biology. Biologically, the area has been defined historically by the native sagebrush and shrubs that thrive in the dry valleys of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains. But, as a recent study undertaken by researchers at the University of Montana and the Department of Agriculture notes, these native plant communities are rapidly being colonized by nonnative annual grasses like cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), red brome (B. rubens), and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) to the detriment of wildlife and humans.

Spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii), is an invasive fruit fly species that causes about $500 million in economic damage to fruit crops in the U.S. each year. A native to southeast Asia, it arrived in the U.S. in Hawaii in the 1980s and in the continental U.S. in California in 2008. It is now widespread through many parts of the U.S. and the world. In a new review article published last week in the Journal of Economic Entomology, Vaughn Walton, Ph.D., of Oregon State University and a multi-university team of experts have created a comprehensive look at how SWD management strategies are evolving to address these challenges.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that funds part of Walton and colleagues SWD research stipulates that they work with industry influencers, and they have been doing this from the beginning. They bring technologies to industry and seek feedback on how well the technologies work in actual practice. "Federal funding is allowing us to listen to and serve our clients—the growers," Walton says. As the Journal of Economic Entomology paper details, many promising control strategies are being developed for this challenging and uniquely adaptable invasive species. With continued advances, researchers can hope that populations of SWD can be controlled and the damage they cause reduced.

Insects and diseases that are damaging and killing trees across the contiguous United States are reducing the ability of the nation's forests to capture and store climate-changing carbon dioxide, according to a new study. The study – published in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change – found that forests damaged by insects sequestered 69% less carbon than undamaged forests. Those affected by disease sequestered 28% less carbon. In total, the study found that the damage currently being caused by insects and diseases across the contiguous US is reducing the sequestration potential of America’s forests by roughly 50 million tons of carbon dioxide each year – the equivalent of emissions from more than 10 million cars.

Kew's UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) team recently returned from a successful launch of the Tropical Important Plant Areas project in the British Virgin Islands. Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) are target sites for plant and habitat conservation, identified by the presence of threatened species, threatened habitats and/or high botanical richness. Although TIPAs are not legal designations, they can inform the protection and management of sites for biodiversity conservation.

See also: Biocontrol Factsheets for more information on biocontrol agents

A European aphid that is only known to eat invasive garlic mustard has recently been found in the Midwest. If you see garlic mustard with curled leaves or aphids, help researchers studying this insect by sending in a report. Because the aphids may help control invasive garlic mustard plants, they are working with citizen scientists to map their distribution.