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Missouri

Provides selected Missouri resources from agencies and organizations with an interest in the prevention, control, or eradication of invasive species.

Spotlights

  • MDC Asks Anglers to Help Stop Invasive Round Gobies

    • May 6, 2021
    • Missouri Department of Conservation.

    • Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries biologists say that the Show-Me-State has another aquatic invader to be on the watch for. It's already been detected in the Mississippi River near St. Louis—and anglers might be the first line of defense. The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is native to the Black and Caspian Seas between Europe and Asia and was brought to the U.S. by way of the Great Lakes in cargo ship ballast. Since then, the invasive fish has made its way down the Illinois River and has been confirmed just across the Mississippi at Alton, Illinois. MDC encourages anglers to take photos and email MDC with details if they encounter any round gobies. Anglers should report the sighting and email photos to MDCgoby@mdc.mo.gov.

  • Feral Hogs in Missouri

    • Missouri Department of Conservation.

    • Report feral hogs, don't shoot them. The take of feral hogs is prohibited on conservation areas and other lands owned, leased, or managed by the Conservation Department. Hunting hogs on other lands is strongly discouraged. Instead, report feral hog sightings to 573-522-4115, extension 3296 or use the Feral Hog Sighting and Damage Report. The Conservation Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, along with other partners and hundreds of private landowners, are working to eradicate feral hogs in Missouri. When hunters shoot feral hogs, it complicates efforts to remove these pests. Hogs are social animals that travel in groups called sounders. Shooting one or two hogs scatters the sounder and makes trapping efforts aimed at catching the entire group at once more difficult, because hogs become trap-shy and more wary of baited sites. With their high reproductive rate, removing one or two hogs does not help to reduce populations. Anyone who observes a feral hog or damage caused by feral hogs should report it to the Conservation Department rather than shooting the animal so we can work together towards eradication.

  • Missouri Pest Monitoring Network

    • University of Missouri. Integrated Pest Management.

    • View current pest alerts for your region, or sign up to receive email alerts. Pest Monitoring Alerts are sent by e-mail to subscribers when pest captures reach significant numbers.

  • Tree Pests: Emerald Ash Borer

    • University of Missouri Extension.

    • Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an exotic, invasive, wood-boring insect that infests and kills native North American ash trees, both in forests and landscape plantings. With EAB now in several areas of the Show-Me State - and its ability to hitchhike on firewood - the probability of it spreading to noninfected areas in the state is high.

  • Tree Pests: Thousand Cankers Disease

    • University of Missouri. Extension.

    • Although not yet detected here, thousand cankers disease (TCD) is a potentially fatal disease of black walnut, caused by the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis) and an associated fungus (Geosmithia morbida). TCD could easily spread to Missouri from the several eastern and western states where TCD is already present. You can help minimize the chances of spreading TCD by following these steps:

State Specific Threats

Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this location, organized by source.

Council or Task Force
State and Local Government
Academic
  • Missouri Integrated Pest Management

    • University of Missouri-Columbia.

    • Integrated pest management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to managing insect, pathogen, and weed pests through a coordinated decision-making/action-taking process. The goal of IPM is to mitigate pest damage while protecting human health, environmental quality, and economic viability. The MU IPM program is partially funded by a federal grant. It is multidisciplinary and involves a large team of scientists and extension specialists.

  • Weed Science

    • University of Missouri. Division of Plant Sciences.

Professional
  • Grow Native!

    • Missouri Prairie Foundation.

    • Grow Native! is the native plant marketing and education program of the Missouri Prairie Foundation. Grow Native! helps protect and restore biodiversity by increasing conservation awareness of native plants and their effective use in urban, suburban, and rural developed landscapes.

  • Missouri Invasive Species

    • Missouri Botanical Garden.

    • Explore why invasive plants are a concern in the St. Louis region and learn what you can do to help address them.