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Science Takes On a Silent Invader By ROBERT H. BOYLE The New York Times Since they arrived in the Great Lakes in the 1980s, two species of mussels the size of pistachios have spread to hundreds of lakes and rivers in 34 states and have done vast economic and ecological damage. These silent invaders , the quagga and zebra mussels, have disrupted ecosystems by devouring phytoplankton , the foundation of the aquatic food web, and have clogged the water intakes and pipes of cities and towns, power plants, factories and even irrigated golf courses. Now the mussels may have met their match: Daniel P. Molloy, an emeritus biologist at the New York State Museum in Albany and a self-described “Bronx boy who became fascinated by things living in water.”... Leading a team at the museum’s Cambridge Field Research Laboratory in upstate New York, he discovered a bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CL145A , that kills the mussels but appears to have little or no effect on other organism...

Invasive species may be key to understanding death of hundreds of loons by Dan Kraker , Minnesota Public Radio DULUTH, Minn. — Spring is in the air, with daylight savings taking effect on Sunday, and loons will begin their migration back to the north woods in less than a month.           Loons, of course, are a cultural and natural icon, not only in Minnesota but across the Great Lakes states. But last fall, nearly 900 loons died while migrating south across Lake Michigan, probably more. And it's likely at least some were from Minnesota.           Scientists are not sure what killed the loons, but they suspect that invasive species may be to blame. In October, Lynette Grimes was hiking toward Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, outside Traverse City, Mich. The 52-year-old from the nearby town of Benzonia has walked the beaches there for y...

Updated 4/8/11. Recent additions are at the bottom of each week's post. Register Your Invasive Plant Volunteer Group! (Mid-Atlantic Region) Do you have a volunteer-based invasive plant management program in the mid-Atlantic region? If so, please register it! If you oversee a group of volunteers who conduct invasive plant removals in DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA, or WV, please take a minute to add your group to the Invasive Plant Volunteers Directory. To register, click here to complete a short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/InvasivePlantVolunteers Why bother? Because understanding the number and distribution of volunteer groups in our area will help to: Recognize the significance of volunteer efforts in restoring invaded lands, Identify areas in need of volunteer assistance, Help connect interested volunteers with a suitable group, Build a stronger network of invasive plant workers in the region, Build support for potential funding of volunteer-based programs. The directory will ...

Musseled-Out Native Species Return to the Hudson by Rebecca Kessler news.sciencemag.org When zebra mussels make the news, it's usually because they've invaded yet another water body. Not this time, though. In New York's Hudson River, zebra mussels appear to be declining as displaced native species stage a comeback. Zebra mussels are striped, nickel-sized mollusks native to western Asia. Since they first appeared in the United States in 1988 as stowaways in ship ballast water, their habit of starving out native invertebrates and fouling equipment has made them serious aquatic pests. When they showed up in the Hudson in 1991, freshwater ecologist David Strayer and his colleagues at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, were prepared—if not to stop them then at least to study their effects. Cary researchers had been regularly sampling plankton and water chemistry within the Hudson's 150-kilometer freshwater estuary for 5 years and had started samp...

Updated 12/17 -------------------------------------------------------- Moreau, NY tackles threat posed by invasive plant species By PAUL POST, The Saratogian MOREAU, NY — A local environmental group is taking steps to control invasive plant species that it says threaten habitat for birds and other wildlife. The Moreau Conservation Advisory Council hopes to employ strategies ranging from education to eradication. For example, the town Planning Board could urge developers not to landscape with harmful plants, while the town Highway Department could remove invasive plants found along local roads. “It’s a huge problem not only locally, but statewide and nationwide,” council Secretary Ramona Bearor said. “It affects everything — birds, insects and animals that depend on native plants in some way.” Specifically, she cited three types of invasive species that are causing problems. One is Japanese knotweed, sometimes called “American bamboo.” Found in the wild, it spreads rapidly. One place it...

Updated July 17 -------------------------------------------------------- Nassau County teams with environmentalists to thwart invasive species By Phil Spadanuta, Long Island Press Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and Nassau County Legis. Dave Denenberg (D-Merrick) worked with volunteers from the Nature Conservancy to remove the invasive plant species, the water chestnut, from Mill Pond Park in Wantagh on Tuesday. [...] “The best time of the year to remove this harmful plant is in late spring or early summer before it sets seed,” said Kathy Schwager, Invasive Species Ecologist for The Nature Conservancy. “The seeds are viable for up to 10 years so control efforts must be conducted for many years, but luckily this plant has only been found in two locations on Long Island.” The water chestnut is invading Oyster Bay too. But through early detection and rapid response, the water chestnut plants invasion can be curtailed before more damage to the environment occurs. [...] As Suozzi waded ...

Updated July 11 -------------------------------------------------------- Plant Conservation Alliance general meeting announcement Wednesday, July 8, 2009 9:30 - 11:30 AM LOCATION: Conference Room at NatureServe 1101 Wilson Boulevard, 15th Floor Arlington, VA 22209 The Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) Bi-Monthly Meeting is an open forum for anyone interested or working in plant conservation. The meeting is held every other month in the Washington DC metropolitan area. There is roundtable for attendees to share relevant events, as well as updates from each of the PCA working groups and committees, including the Alien Plant Working Group. Regular attendees include representatives from the PCA Federal agencies and from cooperating organizations; however anyone is welcome to attend this meeting. Past meeting summaries and selected presentations are available at http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/index.htm . ----------------------------------------------------------- Suffolk Count...