Invasive Species Weblog

Singing Like A Bird

2011-07-02T11:06:00.001-04:00

Not much posting going on here. For invasive species news in the style of the ISW but in succinct 140-character morsels, follow the ISW on Twitter at invasivespecies.

A Feather In Their Caps?

2011-05-13T14:17:00.002-04:00

Indian rose-ringed parakeets take over Britain, Britain's elite consider even more garish hats for next royal wedding. Read all about it over at the New York Times.

Fish Kabobs

2011-05-03T13:14:00.000-04:00

Some crazy "Asian Carp Water Ninjas" are heading out onto the Illinois River and attacking the invasive fish mid-ski with swords and spiked armor. A link to the video, which must be seen to be believed, is here. (Don't try this at home, etc. etc.)

Coasting Through It

2011-03-25T14:24:00.000-04:00

A study of management of an area of the Oregon coast invaded by Ammophila beach grasses indicates that certain management techniques may actually end up harming native species. Read more here, or read the full article here.

Alien Eats Alien

2011-03-04T16:57:00.000-05:00

Check out the trailer for the upcoming extra-terrestrial road trip comedy "Paul." Around the 2'10" mark, you can watch Paul the from-another-planet alien chomp down on a European starling, an alien in its own right.

Art Of War On Weeds

2011-02-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

NPR has an interesting piece tying in to National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week, about a man who creates art out of invasive plants.

That Stinks!

2011-02-02T23:34:00.000-05:00

The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) has been discovered in Michigan.

Carpoon!

2010-11-24T12:57:00.000-05:00

Fifth grader wins national invention contest from Popular Science with his underwater fishy-facial recognition weapon, an anti-carp device.

Next Up: Lionfish Triple Crown!

2010-11-22T20:39:00.000-05:00

Florida is holding lionfish derbies in an attempt to rid the Florida Keys of this invasive marine fish.

Nutria-palooza!

2010-11-04T00:08:00.000-04:00

This November, Brooklyn fashion designers and musicians are teaming up for Nutria-palooza!, a nutria-themed fashion show set to music. The show will feature clothing and jewelry made using the invasive rodent known as Nutria or "coypu" (Myocastor coypus), and at least one band will participate by wearing what they're calling "nutria-gangster" outfits.

Invasive Plants In The Southeastern US

2010-11-02T00:08:00.000-04:00

Interesting article - "History of Southeastern Invasive Plants" - in the latest issue of American Nurseryman.

New Jersey Mussel Maker

2010-09-28T02:39:00.004-04:00

The Chinese pond mussel (Sinanodonta woodiana) has been found in New Jersey, in a pond formerly used as a fish farm. While this Asian species is known to have invaded many bodies of water in Europe (See 1, 2, 3), this appears to be the first record for this species in the USA.

King Of The Fishes

2010-09-08T19:30:00.003-04:00

The Great Lakes-area news is abuzz with the announcement that the US government has appointed an Asian carp czar to oversee efforts to keep Asian carp out of the lakes.

Ms. MILFoil?

2010-09-01T09:16:00.005-04:00

Well I guess that's *one* way to fight invasive species...

P.S. - You can also follow her on Twitter.

Le Snakehead Is In La River

2010-05-25T21:04:00.002-04:00

A large Indonesian snakehead fish (Channa micropeltes) was found dead in the Saint Charles River in Quebec last month - possibly the first find of this species in the wild in Quebec. It's thought to be a released pet. Need a French translation? Try this forum (towards the bottom of the page)

The Age of Aquaria

2010-05-25T21:01:00.001-04:00

Conservation Maven has an article about an interesting new study exploring aquariums as vectors for the accidental introduction of exotic species.

There Is No Word That Rhymes With Tunicate

2010-05-24T11:50:00.001-04:00

The invasive tunicate Didemnum was recently discovered in two Oregon bays.

ALB And More

2010-05-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Think you know your bugs? Check out these Asian longhorned beetle look-alikes.

Walnut Bleak

2010-05-24T11:47:00.003-04:00

Missouri, the top black walnut producer in the USA, has enacted a quarantine to prevent the introduction of Thousand Cankers disease from the Western USA.

Mixed Signals

2010-04-13T22:45:00.002-04:00

A UK man who thought he was doing the environment a favor by catching invasive American signal crayfish out of a local river has been fined £4,000 ($8,000) aftger authorities discovered he had actually caught and eaten the native white-clawed crayfish, an endangered species. Also, turns out he was breaking the law just by trapping for crayfish in Cumbria.

Minneapolis Twigs

2010-04-13T00:27:00.002-04:00

A recent report from the city of Minneapolis indicates that the city is poised to lose all 200,000 of its ash trees to the emerald ash borer. A summary of the Greenprint report is available here, and the entire report can be downloaded here.

Citizen Science

2010-04-03T22:30:00.003-04:00

Should established non-native mammals be granted "ecological citizenship"? That was one of the conclusions of a new UK study, "The State of Britain’s Mammals."

The Devil's Monkey

2010-03-29T23:17:00.002-04:00

This carving is possibly the oddest thing anyone has ever done with a Japanese knotweed rhizome.

Funky Monkey

2010-03-28T21:13:00.001-04:00

A rhesus macaque monkey that has been on the loose in Florida for more than a year has reached such heights of popularity among us human folk that it has more than 56,000 Facebook fans.

Hawaiian Punch

2010-03-28T21:10:00.002-04:00

Hawaii has found success with a biological control in the effort to save endangered wiliwili trees from invasive gall wasp.