Latest Invasive species Stories

Ecologists at the University of Toronto and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) have found that, given time, invading exotic plants will likely eliminate native plants growing in the wild despite recent reports to the contrary. A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reports that recent statements that invasive plants are not problematic are often based on incomplete information, with insufficient time having passed to observe...

ESCONDIDO, Calif., Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Daily commuters may have noticed exciting activity happening near the San Dieguito River recently. Helicopters have been airlifting out wildfire-burned logs and other debris since September, capping a multi-year effort to restore the river back to health - complete with native vegetation and restored habitat for various wildlife species. Federal, state and local conservation agencies and partners have pooled their...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online An international team of scientists comprised of members from Penn State, UMass Amherst, UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) and University College London has revealed that an invasive grass species may be one reason that fires are bigger and more frequent in certain regions of the western U.S. Using satellite imagery, the team identified cheatgrass – a plant species accidentally introduced by western settlers during the 1800s – in a...

Bill sponsor Sen. Kristen Gillibrand seeks to prevent the import of harmful non-native fish and wildlife in her second term WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Shortly before Congress broke for its pre-election recess, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) took a major step forward to stop the import of invasive non-native animals when she introduced "The Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2012" (S. 3606). Now that Congress has reconvened, the recently...

Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new study out of the U.K. points out what many ecosystems of the world have already known. In this new study, scientists from the Queen Mary, University of London, claim that almost 100 non-native freshwater species have successfully invaded the River Thames, making it one of the world’s most highly invaded freshwater systems. Published in the journal Biological Invasions over the weekend, scientists suggest that previous...

Practitioners and Policy Makers meet to respond to the growing threat of invasive plant species. TORONTO, Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - The sixth annual Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC) Annual General Meeting and Invasive Plant Symposium will be held October 16(th)and 17(th)at the Delta Guelph Hotel in Guelph, Ontario. The first day will feature speakers and the annual general meeting, with tours planned for the second day. Representatives from approximately 100 organizations...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Human activities and disturbances can put a significant amount of stress on local environments and a new research review has shown that the functional diversity in arid, desert environments can be affected by the hand of man. According the report published in the Journal of Arid Environments, mammalian communities living in dry ecosystems are "drastically changing" as a result of human activities. "We report for the first time...

Testing to reduce the risk of aquatic invasive species in lakes, streams, rivers and coastal waters ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NSF International (NSF), an independent public health organization, has become the first Independent Laboratory (IL) accepted by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to evaluate and test technologies designed to treat ballast water on ships in order to prevent the spread of non-native aquatic species in lakes, rivers and...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Alien species have invaded! A national park that is. Park officials have closed down Crater Lake to scuba divers due to invasive species. The lake goes down to depths of 1,943 feet, and is both the deepest and clearest lake in the U.S. It has become famous to scuba divers for its strange peat moss formations, tunnels and steep crater walls. Park ecologists have shut down the lake as they try and develop a plan to keep out an...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Invasive species cost the world a whopping $1.4 trillion dollars a year. Humans are the main culprit behind the introduction of invasive species such as plants, animals or even microbes. Specific examples of these include zebra mussels in the Hudson River, Burmese pythons in the Florida everglades, giant hogweed in the Czech Republic, and gray squirrels in the UK. Invasive species are responsible for the loss of natural resources...