Invasive Species - What's New on NISIC's Site

Eliminating screwworms from the United States saves farmers and ranchers nearly $900 million in lost livestock each year.

The purpose of this toolkit is to assist local governments with navigating the regulatory framework associated with high-risk priority aquatic invasive species (AIS).
Note: In 2020, the National Sea Grant Law Center and project partner, Creative Resources Strategies, LLC, received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct research on the role of municipalities in aquatic invasive species (AIS) prevention efforts. This project resulted in the development of an online toolkit to help local governments navigate the regulatory framework associated with high-risk priority AIS.

USDA NIFA research investment in Texas A&M AgriLife leads to breakthrough in fighting agricultural plant diseases. Researchers have made a discovery that will help combat fastidious pathogens, which cost U.S. agriculture alone billions of dollars annually.

The Invasive Species Data Mobilization Campaign of the Western Governors’ Association seeks to encourage national, state, and local land managers, private landowners, and non-governmental organizations to enter previously unavailable data into new or existing invasive species data management platforms using Findings and Recommendations (May 15, 2018) [PDF, 244 KB] developed by WGA and invasive species data experts. WGA and the North American Invasive Species Management Association launched the campaign in December 2020 with a webinar featured representatives from the four existing data platforms -- EDDMapS, iMapInvasives, BISON (see note below), and USGS NAS -- discussing the importance of invasive species data standardization and sharing.
Note: GBIF-US was formerly hosted at BISON.USGS.gov. The BISON website was taken down on December 17, 2021 and users are redirected to www.gbif.us.

The Western Regional Panel prepared Quagga and Zebra Mussel Action Plan 2.0 to inform ongoing management and partnership efforts intended to minimize the spread and impacts from zebra and quagga mussels in the western United States. The original QZAP action items have guided prevention, containment, research, and management to address the ecological and economic impacts of invasive quagga and zebra mussels since 2009. The purpose of QZAP 2.0 is to provide a systematic and unified approach to prevent the spread of zebra and quagga mussels into and within the western United States in the future. The urgency and the need for such a coordinated approach remain as important today as ever before. Newly infested waters, increased boating pressure, and gained public and political awareness drove the need for the Western Regional Panel to acknowledge and learn from the past and set forth a new collective path towards the future. These recommendations are intended to inform decision-making to provide increased capacity and clear direction that empowers the further implementation of a collaborative and coordinated multi-jurisdictional regional strategy to prevent the spread of quagga and zebra mussels in the West. For more resources, see: Key Documents

It has been a wild year with lots of challenges, but MAISRC is still here and working as hard as ever to develop research-based solutions to reduce the impacts of aquatic invasive species in Minnesota. MAISRC hopes the research highlights included in the report will surprise, inspire, and give you hope.

Citizens with an avid interest in environmental matters will be able to 'sea' their environmental reports using mobile technology. The first of its kind in Trinidad and Tobago, the Institute of Marine Affairs' new Integrated Environmental Incident Software Platform and mobile application, called the Lionfish SeaiTT, allows users to report environmental incidents with the touch of a button. The development of this mobile application was part of a 2014 Green Fund project entitled 'Control and Management of the Invasive Lionfish in Trinidad and Tobago' which aimed to raise awareness on the arrival of the marine invasive species, the lionfish, Pterios volitans, to the territorial waters around Trinidad and Tobago, and the imminent threat the species pose to domestic marine ecosystems.

The Maine Department of Agricultural, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) announced finding egg masses of the invasive spotted lanternfly (SLF) on trees in Maine communities and is urging residents to report any sign of the invasive pest. The egg masses were found on trees from Pennsylvania, where SLF is established and planted in Boothbay, Freeport, Northeast Harbor, and Yarmouth. DACF urges anyone who received goods or materials, such as plants, landscaping materials, or outdoor furniture, from a state with a known SLF infestation to carefully check the materials, including any packaging, for signs of SLF. If any life stages of SLF are found, residents should take a photo or collect the specimen and report any pest potential sightings to bugwatch@maine.gov. Residents should look for large, gray insects, about one inch long, with black spots and red underwings, or inch-long, rectangular yellowish-brown egg masses covered with a gray waxy coating.

Because no live SLF has been found in Maine, there is currently no evidence that SLF has become established. The DACF Horticulture Program has inspected all the suspect trees and asks the homeowners and landscape companies to keep an eye on the areas where egg masses were found to confirm that no live populations are present. Spotted lanternfly has not previously been found in Maine.

The Bureau of Land Management has released the final programmatic environmental impact statement for fuels reduction and rangeland restoration in the Great Basin. This programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) is intended to further efforts to conserve and restore sagebrush communities within a 223 million-acre area that includes portions of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah.

Sagebrush communities in the Great Basin are a vital part of Western working landscapes and are home to over 350 species of plants and wildlife. Intact sagebrush communities are disappearing within the Great Basin due to increased large and severe wildfires, the spread of invasive annual grasses, and the encroachment of pinyon-juniper. The Great Basin region is losing sagebrush communities faster than they can reestablish naturally. Fuels reduction and rangeland restoration treatments can reduce fire severity, increase sagebrush communities' resistance to invasive annual grasses and improve their ability to recover after wildfires.

Four new publications have been added to the 'Pacific Invasive Battler Series,' and are now available for free download from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), to help Pacific practitioners, environmental managers, government and community members in specific areas of invasive species management.

Developed through the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service (PRISMSS), the Battler Series is an important resource for those working to restore ecosystems and manage invasive species. It provides tested best practice approaches through step by step guidance, case studies and visual aid for those battling invasive species. The series provides information and case-studies that can assist those working in the field and is written in a user-friendly way. There are now 15 publications in the Pacific Invasive Battler Series, and they are available for download on the Battler Resource Base.