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Hand-writing on the wall for kudzu? AccessNorthGA.com ATHENS, GA - Researchers at the University of Georgia and Dow AgroSciences have identified a kudzu-eating pest in northeast Georgia that has never been found in the Western Hemisphere. Unfortunately, they say, the bug also eats legume crops, especially soybeans... a major cash crop in Georgia. The bug has tentatively been identified as the bean plataspid ( Megacopta cribraria ), a native to India and China. It is pea-sized and brownish in color with a wide posterior, said Dan Suiter, an entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “It kind of waddles when it walks on a surface, but it flies really well,” he said. It’s also commonly called lablab bug and globular stink bug. Like its distant cousin the stink bug, when threatened, it releases a chemical that stinks. Suiter and CAES diagnostician Lisa Ames first saw the pest when samples were sent to them in mid-October from UGA Cooperative Extension age...

Invasive plant species threatens shore plants, animals, dunes By TODD B. BATES Gannett New Jersey November 10, 2009 An invasive foreign plant is rapidly making inroads in New Jersey's critical dune systems, and Louise Wootton wants to stop it in its tracks. Asiatic sand sedge ( Carex kobomugi ) — a "scruffy little plant" — threatens to take over the habitat of endangered and threatened species, such as the piping plover, according to Wootton, a biology professor at Georgian Court University in Lakewood. The sedge also can result in lower dunes, lessening their ability to protect communities from flooding, Wootton said. "It changes the ecosystem completely," she said. The Brick resident has enlisted about 25 students from Georgian Court, Marine Academy of Science and Technology on Sandy Hook and Brookdale Community College in Middletown to help study the sedge, map its extent and study ways to get rid of it. She wants government permission to begin eradicating th...

Updated November 6. The latest news is at the bottom of the post. --------------------------------------------------------- More than $1 Million for projects to improve the health of Long Island Sound Funds awarded to control perennial pepperweed (Waterford, Conn. – Oct. 29, 2009) – Gathering together on the shores of Long Island Sound, top federal and state environmental officials announced 33 grants to state and local government and community groups under the Long Island Sound Futures Fund. The $1,011,878 will be leveraged by $1.92 million contributed by the recipients, providing a total of nearly $2.94 million for on-the-ground conservation in Connecticut and New York. [...] This year’s grant program funded 21 large grants (grants greater than $10,000) totaling $943,755. Five grants were awarded for water quality; four for habitat restoration; one for watershed planning; one for invasive species control; seven for education; and three for stewardship projects. [...] The grants incl...