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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...

West Nile Virus Linked To American Robin By Kaitlin Vogel www.thirdage.com The deadly West Nile virus that has killed five Californians this summer and sickened another 197 began with the infection of a species that thrives around people: the American Robin. This shocking discovery was made by UC Santa Cruz biologist Marm Kilpatrick. He calls these birds “super-spreaders” because its numbers have increased along with the popularity of lawns at homes, parks and schoolyards. And although the virus can infect a wide range of animals, the robin seems to play the most major role in transmission. "Just like other invasive species, the virus starts adapting to its new environment," Kilpatrick said, The Oakland Tribune reports. Research shows after the virus arrived in New York in 1999, it began evolving to create a new and distinct strain. More than 1.8 million people have since become infected in North America, with about 360,000 sicknesses and 1,308 deaths, according to Kilpatrick...