Density of Invasive Reed, Phragmites australis , Mapped in Great Lakes Phragmites australis , an invasive species of plant called common reed, grows rapidly into dense stands of tall plants that pose an extreme threat to Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Early treatment is the key to controlling Phragmites . Scientists have mapped the U.S. coastline of all five Great Lakes using satellite technologies. The Phragmites map is the first of its kind. It is "a highly accurate data set that will allow national, regional and local managers to visualize the extent of Phragmites invasion in the Great Lakes and strategically plan efforts to manage existing populations and minimize new colonization." Learn more at link .
Posts
More Zebra Mussels Found in Upper Chesapeake Bay From Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologists found young zebra mussels attached to buoys off Havre de Grace on December 3. DNR is asking boaters and anglers to be on the lookout for this harmful, invasive mussel. The biologists collected 20 live zebra mussels attached to the concrete anchor blocks for three channel marker buoys. DNR discovered the mussels when Captain Shawn Orr and the crew of DNR’s A.V. Sandusky pulled the buoys from the water for cleaning and winter storage. “We know that these mussels are from this year’s spawn since these buoys and anchors were deployed this spring,” said Matt Ashton, a DNR biologist and mussel expert who helped collect the mussels. “We plan to check these and other buoys every fall, as part of DNR’s limited zebra mussel monitoring effort in the upper Bay area.” ... DNR asks that people who live and work on the water keep an eye out for zebr...
Southern Maine clams threatened by invasive species, warming climate By Will Graff The Forecaster FREEPORT, ME — Small, green crabs are wreaking havoc along the Harraseeket River, and could soon devour the soft-shell clam population into extinction. As water temperatures continue to rise and the winters get warmer, experts and clammers say the crabs, which eat spat – clams in larval stage – combined with coastal acidification, could drive 1,800 licensed clammers out of work and drastically alter the ecosystem. Chad Coffin, president of the Maine Clammers Association, said the crabs have essentially taken over two-thirds of the productive clam flats in the last two decades, eating the mussels and scallops along the way. The devastation of clams has accelerated in the last decade and the problem is only getting worse, he said. Green crabs, originally from Japan, were first recorded on Long Island, N.Y., in the mid-1860s and weren't seen in Casco Bay until the early 1900s, Beal said. ...
New Pound Ridge, NY Program To Fight Invasive Plant Species By Bob Dumas Pound Ridge Daily Voice POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — A new initiative to fight the proliferation of invasive plants within the town has been formed between the Pound Ridge Conservation Board and the Henry Morgenthau Preserve of the Bedford Audubon Society. The Invasives Project-Pound Ridge is a public/private task force formed to encourage and coordinate efforts to reduce existing infestations and to prevent new ones from occurring through scientific study, education, early detection and rapid response within Pound Ridge. "You do not have to go far to see the damaging effects that uncontrolled invasive plants, such as oriental bittersweet, have on our area,” said Marilyn Shapiro-Lowell, chairman of the Henry Morgenthau Preserve. “Just drive along Route 172 near the Fox Lane campus: Whole woods have collapsed under the weight of oriental bittersweet vines during high winds from the hurricanes.” ... The first public for...
Beetles released to attack invasive species By KEITH WHITCOMB JR. / Bennington Banner POWNAL, VT -- About two millimeters long and appearing as black specks, the town's newest 379 residents are here to hopefully stay and perhaps eat a few unwelcome newcomers. On Thursday, two people from the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation released nearly 400 Laricobius nigrinus (small black beetle) onto four hemlock trees on Mason Hill Road, near the Massachusetts state line and next to a tributary to the Hoosic River. Jim Esden, forestry specialist for the department, said he hopes the adult beetles will survive the winter and feed off the hemlock woolly adelgid, an aphid-like insect that has been spreading slowly northward and was reported in Pownal over the summer. The adelgid is an invasive species and threatens the health of hemlock trees, said Esden. The small black beetle, a native of the Pacific northwest, eats nothing but adelgids and follows a similar life cycle, being acti...
Partners of the St. Lawrence Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (SLELO-PRISM) Reports 2012 Accomplishments (Nov. 2012) Partners of the St. Lawrence Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (SLELO-PRISM) have completed a tremendous season managing harmful invasive species. The SLELO-PRISM is one of eight partnerships across New York State, encompassing the counties of St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Oneida, Lewis and Oswego outside of the Adirondack Park who’s mission is to “protect the ecological integrity of the eastern Lake Ontario Basin and Northern New York’s natural & cultural resources from the threat of invasive species.... In 2012 partners of the SLELO-PRISM completed a tremendous amount of work designed to reduce the threat and impacts posed by invasive species. This work also serves to protect rare and endangered species of flora and fauna found within the five county PRISM region. ' Highlights from 2012...