Invasive quagga mussels found in Lake Powell for first time

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Quagga mussels growing on a flip-flop. Photo courtesy NPS.

Biologists hopeful that the alien invaders haven’t started breeding yet

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Non-native quagga mussels have gummed up waterworks and fouled ecosystems across the country and now, for the first time, they’ve been confirmed in Lake Powell, the great southwestern reservoir that is a key part overall water storage in the Colorado River Basin.

The National Park Service recently identified 14 adult quagga mussels attached to moored vessels and dock structures at the Wahweap Marina in Lake Powell. None of the adult mussels were close enough together to mate for successful reproduction. All of the mussels were physically removed from the lake. (more…)

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Study finds invasive plants to be widespread in forests

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

New mapping to help resource managers plan prevention and response

Non-native grasses have altered the wildfire regime across parts of the High Plains. Bob Berwyn photo.

Non-native grasses have altered the wildfire regime across parts of the High Plains.

By Summit VoiceFRISCO — Invasive species may be much more common than we think, according to a new U.S. Forest Service study that documented non-native species in two-thirds of forest plots inventoried in the Northeast and Midwest. The study across two dozen states from North Dakota to Maine can help land managers pinpoint areas on the landscape where invasive plants might take root.

“We found two-thirds of more than 1,300 plots from our annual forest inventory had at least one introduced species, but this also means that one-third of the plots had no introduced species,” said Beth Schulz, a research ecologist at the Pacific Northwest Research Station who led the study. “By describing forest stands with few or no introduced species, we help managers focus on areas where early detection and rapid response can be most effective to slow the spread of introduced and potentially invasive plant species.”

Nonnative, or introduced, plants are those species growing in areas where they are not normally found. Whether they were intentionally released or escaped cultivation, nonnative plants ultimately can become invasive, displacing native species, degrading habitat, and altering critical ecosystem functions. (more…)

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Better maps to help manage invasive species threats

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Invasive zebra mussels are threatening aquatic ecosystems. Photo courtesy U.S. Geological Survey.

New modeling takes human factor into account

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — British scientists have fine-tuned invasive species predictions by adding the human factor into the biological models often used to forecast the spread of non-native pests.

Based on their new maps, Dr. Bellinda Gallardo and Dr. David Aldridge from the University of Cambridge, identified a ‘dirty dozen’ — a group of high-risk invasive aquatic plants and animals. Some, like the killer shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus) and the bloody red mysid (Hemimysis anomala) are already in UK but have yet to spread. Others, such as the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminalis) and the marmokrebs, a crayfish (Procambarus fallax) may not yet have arrived.

Traditional species distribution models are mostly based on environmental conditions such as temperature and rainfall. The Cambridge researchers have upped the accuracy of the models by including  factors such as population density, land-use and proximity to ports. (more…)

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Ash borer invades Great Smoky Mountains NP backcountry

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Invasive insect pest spreading out of the Midwest

A close up of an Emerald Ash Borer insect and the feeding tunnels the insects create under ash bark. Insect Photo: David Cappaert, Michigan State University. Tunnel Photo: NPS Photo

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The destructive emerald ash borer has made its first incursion into the backcountry of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where it could do serious damage to hardwood forests, according to National Park Service biologists.

The ash borer is a non-native species that was introduced from Asia and first discovered in southern Michigan in 2002. In just 10 years, the bugs have spread to 16 states and two Canadian provinces killing tens of millions of ash trees.

The emerald ash borer is a half-inch inch-long metallic green beetle that lays eggs on the bark on all species of ash trees. After hatching, the larvae burrow under the bark, and create feeding tunnels that cut off nutrient and water flow to the tree. The tree can die in three to five years. (more…)

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Environment: Invasive fungus killing old-growth beech forests in Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Seashore

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Park Service has few management options available

National Park Service crews cut a dead beech tree at Pictured Rocks National Seashore. Photo courtesy National Park Service.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The spread of a tree-killing fungus in Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a textbook example of how invasive species can permanently alter homegrown ecosystems.

As the beech bark disease spreads (transmitted by insects), it’s expected to kill thousands of beech trees. According to National Park Service scientists, the species will survive, but the aftermath forests are expected to be perpetually young thickets of beech that do not play the same ecological role as maturing and mature forests. (more…)

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Environment: Scuba diving temporarily banned at Crater Lake

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

The National Park Service hopes to protect Crater Lake from invasive species by establishing new rules for scuba diving and other uses. Photo courtesy National Park Service.

National Park Service to set new rules to protect pristine waters against invasive species

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — With growing concern about the environmental impacts of invasive species to freshwater ecoysystems, the National Park Service has decided to close the pristine waters of Crater Lake National Park to scuba diving.

Some scientists consider Crater Lake to be the most pristine naturally occurring large body of water on the planet. Minor changes in the hydrologic conditions of the lake could permanently affect both purity and clarity. Invasive species are almost impossible to eliminate once they’ve been introduced, at least without massive chemical intervention that would likely have other unwanted consequences.

Read more about invasive species threats to freshwater ecosystems at this Nature Conservancy web page. (more…)

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Global warming aids invasive species in Antarctica

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

King crabs poised to invade the Antarctic continental shelf

Antarctic biodiversity is at risk from climate change. Photo by Bob Berwyn.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Global warming is on the verge of causing a major ecological upheaval in the shallow marine waters of Antarctica’s continental shelf, where predatory king crabs are poised to invade primeval marine communities that have lived there for millions of years.

“The king crabs are predators that eat most types of hard-shelled prey. If the crabs make it onto the Antarctic shelf, it is highly likely they will disrupt the unique seafloor communities, which currently live just a few hundred meters shallower than the massed crab populations,” said Richard Aronson, head of the Florida Institute of Technology Department of Biological Sciences. (more…)

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Global warming to spur invasive Australian ‘sleeper’ weeds

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Karoo thorn is a tree in its early stages of establishment in Australia but it has the potential to be a serious woody weed. PHOTO COURTESY COLIN WILSON/CSIRO.

Invasive weeds expected to move southward

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Global warming may shift the range of invasive weeds in Australia by hundreds of miles and awaken so-called “sleeper weeds,” according to scientists with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

Plant experts warned at the end of March warned that resource managers need to be prepared for big changes in the coming decades.

Invasive weeds already cost Australia more than $4 billion (Australian) per year either in control of lost production, and, like elsewhere, displace native habitat and species. (more…)

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Invasive snakes pose new threat to Everglades

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Burmese pythons, native to southern Asia, have taken up a comfortable residence in the state of Florida, especially in the Everglades. In addition to out-competing native wildlife for resources and habitat, the pythons are eating the native wildlife. PHOTO COURTESY SARAH L. STEWART.

Invasive pythons found to be eating eggs in addition to birds

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Burmese pythons aren’t just sitting and waiting for native birds in the Everglades — they’re actively seeking out nests and eating eggs, according to a new report by Smithsonian scientists who are trying to assess the impacts of the unwelcome invaders.

The findings suggest a new dimension in the threat to native wildlife, with tens of thousands of snakes on the loose in the subtropical ecosystem. The team’s findings are published in the online journal Reptiles & Amphibians: Conservation and Natural History.

“This finding is significant because it suggests that the Burmese python is not simply a sit-and-wait predator, but … is opportunistic enough to find the nests of birds,” said Carla Dove, ornithologist at the Smithsonian’s Feather Identification Lab in the National Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study. “Although the sample size is small, these findings suggest that the snakes have the potential to negatively affect the breeding success of native birds.” (more…)

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Biodiversity: Ireland faces ‘invasional meltdown’

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Red deer. PHOTO VIA WIKIPEDIA AND BILL EBBESEN.

SUMMIT COUNTY — Invasive species are recognized as a threat to biodiversity worldwide, but the problem is even worse on a small island, where native species don’t have many alternatives when it comes to habitat.

A recent study by researchers at Queen’s University shows that the red squirrel, red deer and Irish hare are just a few of Ireland’s indigenous species that could soon disappear in an invasive species meltdown.

“The introduction of alien mammals to Ireland over the last 100 years has had major detrimental effects, threatening our indigenous habitats and species,” said Professor Ian Montgomery, lead researcher from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University. “The American grey squirrel, for example, passes a deadly virus to native red squirrels, whilst European hares threaten the ecological and genetic integrity of the native Irish hare through competition and interbreeding.” (more…)

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