Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Marshing Ahead
An AP article about salt marsh cord grass (Spartina alterniflora) invading San Francisco Bay is currently making the rounds. Seems the species is spreading a lot faster than even those anticipating its invasion had expected. For more on salt marsh cord grass from the ISW, search the archive.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:46 PM
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Sunday, November 07, 2004
New in the Literature
Recently published journal articles:
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Saturday, November 06, 2004
Tumbleweedy
Science Blog has this story about using Russian thistle (Salsola tragus, a tumbleweed not related to the true thistles) and other weeds to suck up depleted uranium from contaminated soil. Sounds good, but then what do they use to suck up all of the Russian thistle? :-)
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Friday, November 05, 2004
How did they find it?
Weather loaches (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) were my favorite fish to buy for our tropical aquarium when I was growing up. I thought it was neat because they buried themselves in the gravel and went crazy when the barometric pressure changed. After a few months of not seeing one, we would root around in the gravel, but could never find any trace of it. So I wonder how the heck someone found a weather loach in a wetland in Oregon, as reported here (from the NAS Alert System). Apparently the fish have escaped from fish farms and have also been used as bait. The fact that this species can handle low dissolved oxygen levels probably makes it a prime candidate to populate disturbed, eutrophic bodies of water.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Thursday, November 04, 2004
Urban Birds
There's a new book out about the monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) and its place in urban habitats. "Parrots in the City, One Bird's Struggle for a Place on the Planet" sounds like it is going to leaning way towards the pro-parrot side. For balance, you may want to peruse these excellent ISW posts from guest blogger Jason South: Monk Parakeets I and Monk Parakeets II. "Parrots in the City" is also available here as an ebook.
Labels: birds, monk parakeets
Jennifer Forman Orth 10:39 PM
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Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Jumping Brahminy!
Brahminy worms (Ramphotyphlops braminus) are a tropical species of snake, so what the heck are they doing way up in Minnesota? Yard & Garden Line News has the story. Biologists think they hitchhiked over in the soil of a potted plant. The Asian snakes are established in Florida and Hawaii but are not thought to pose a threat in Minnesota, because it would be difficult for them to survive the chilly winters. Unfortunately the reptiles are parthenogenetic, meaning that they don't need males to reproduce.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Making Lemonade from Alien Lemons
The Honolulu Star Bulletin has a nice story about Hawaiian clothing artist Anna Peach. Anna uses many of the islands' alien plants to build unique sculptures of dresses, shoes and corsets. Anna says some people want to wear her work, but she knows that could contribute to the further spread of the invasives from which she harvests seed. See examples of Anna's work here, or visit her studio web page.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Monday, November 01, 2004
Surrender
Looks like that Mexican town I blogged about last week has given up the fight against a huge rat infestation. Atascaderos officials are now saying the town's inhabitants will just have to learn to live with the long-tailed critters - all 250,000 of them. Again, Cat Out Loud blog has gone on quite a rant...head on over there for a good read. Here's the link to a report from BBC News as well.
Jennifer Forman Orth 9:32 PM
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Saturday, October 30, 2004
Algal Ban?
Right now only the Mediterranean clone of the marine alga Caulerpa taxifolia is a federally listed noxious weed (.pdf). Do you think the entire species should be listed, or even the entire genus of Caulerpa? More than one hundred scientists and concerned citizens have signed petitions to this effect, and now there is a sixty day comment period for anyone to weigh in with his/her opinion. Details are here.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Thursday, October 28, 2004
Buy Online
USA Today has this report about the sale of invasive plants and noxious weeds via the internet. Not much new here, but a good summary. It remians true that the responsibility of checking whether a non-native species is invasive or even illegal to own is frequently placed on the consumer. Also, the U.S. is in need of a better way for sellers to keep up with which states have lists and when those lists are updated. So congrats to all you consumers out there reading this for furthering your education!
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Monday, October 25, 2004
Hello Old Friend
Seems our native Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) has secretly been vacationing in the Orient. As reported by china.org, the goldenrod has been used an an ornamental in China since the 1930s, and has since escaped into the wild and become invasive. Researchers, noting its propensity to displace native plants, are calling for its eradication. Bonus points to China Daily for using the plant's scientific name.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Sunday, October 24, 2004
Another Emerald City
Michigan's emerald ash borer beetle ( Agrilus planipennis) invasion has been restricted to only the most southeastern parts of the state...until now. The Traverse City Record-Eagle is reporting that a beetle infestation was found in a group of ash trees in Petroskey, a city in Emmet County that is on the northwest tip of the lower half of the state. State workers are currently developing a response plan, which is likely to include removal of all ash trees in the area.
Jennifer Forman Orth 10:52 PM
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Saturday, October 23, 2004
Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
A mussel from South America recently reappeared in Florida, according to this NAS alert. An established population of the Charru mussel (Mytella charruana), which has not been seen in Florida since 1986, has been discovered on a dock in Mosquito Lagoon. Not much information about this species on the internet, here's hoping it doesn't turn out to be the next zebra mussel.
Labels: Florida, mollusks, mussels
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Friday, October 22, 2004
Squeeze Play
CNN International has this report about the naturalization of the Burmese python (Python molarus bivittatus) in the Florida Everglades. Scientists think the snakes, which can live more than two decades, were released by people who no longer wanted them as pets. Now breeding populations have been found, and no one's sure what the impact will be, though it's likely to be bad for the birds and small mammals, and good for the hungry alligators.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:57 PM
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Thursday, October 21, 2004
Meow!
I was going to prepare a post about the rat problem in Atascaderos, Mexico, but then I found that Caitlin over at Cat Out Loud has done it so much better. Go read it, it's good stuff.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Frog Baseball!!!!!
The Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) seems to be expanding its North American range, according to this report from CNN. This is potentially bad news for Georgia, which is thought to have remained Cuban tree frog-free for almost a century after the species was introduced to Florida. Scientists had previously thought the northern limit for the species was Jacksonville, Florida - 120 miles south. The amphibian, now the largest tree frog on the continent, thrives in human-altered habitats like fish ponds, porches, and wells. Bonus points to the Georgia woman who discovered the fist-sized frog by her pond, identified it online, and then caught it and preserved it in a bottle of alcohol.
What does baseball have to do with this story? Uh, nothing, heh heh, heh heh (Go Sox!).
Labels: amphibians, frogs
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004
00:14:55 and Counting
Tonight at 10pm EST, a photo I took will appear briefly in Law & Order: SVU, in an episode titled "Scavenger"...or, someone has played a bizarre practical joke on me. Either way, I am bragging about it here in the ISW because the photo is of an invasive plant. When I came across the species in Italy back in 1999, my guide book called it Himalayan balsam, but in the U.S. it is known more frequently by the name "Policeman's Helmet" (which likely explains it's inclusion in the episode). A large annual plant, Impatiens glandulifera is native to the Himalayas, and invasive in Europe, the western U.S. and Canada. You can see my photo of the flower, whose shape resembles that of the old-style British policeman's helmet, by going here and scrolling down to the bottom of the page.
Jennifer Forman Orth 2:38 PM
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Monday, October 18, 2004
Getting Drunk on Invasives
While searching for something totally unrelated, I came across this recipe for Japanese knotweed wine. Is there nothing we humans won't try to turn into booze? :-)
Labels: Japanese knotweed, plants
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Saturday, October 16, 2004
Lecture on Plant Vectors
Time is running out, but you still have one day left to register for my "Vectors of Invasion" lecture at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA. Topics covered will include the past, present, and future of plant invasions, and how plants are introduced vs. how they spread. The lecture will be held this Monday, Oct. 18, from 7-9pm, and you have to register in advance, so call the New England Wildflower Society at 508-877-7630, ext. 3303. or email them at "registrar AT newfs.org" If you can't make this one, the link above describes two more talks I'll be giving in November and December.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:19 PM
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Friday, October 15, 2004
What a Croc
From Reuters comes this odd blurb about the potential release of crocodiles in Israel. Hundreds of baby African crocodiles were stolen from a farm that breeds them for their skins. While the goal of the robbers was likely to sell the babies as pets to Israelis, officials are concerned that some of the crocs will be released into local lakes and rivers, where they will be a potential cause of harm for humans and animals alike. It is illegal to own a crocodile as a pet in Israel. You can read more about this story from Haaretz.com.
Jennifer Forman Orth 1:04 PM
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Thursday, October 14, 2004
My Kind of Town
This is my fourth post about snakeheads this month, but how could I avoid reporting that the Northern snakehead (Channa argus) has been found in Chicago? The email about it arrived in my inbox today via the NAS Alert System - you can view the specimen record here. The adult fish was found in Lake Michigan, a first for Illinois and a first for the Great Lakes ecosystem. Of course the story is making the media rounds, with liberal use of words like "Frankenfish" and "terror." Read about it in the Chicago Sun-Times, the Duluth News-Tribune, or MLive.com.
Labels: snakehead
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Weeds Under Control?
The Noxious Weed Control Act is just a few steps away from being signed into law. The NWCA, also known as S. 144, creates a program under the Secretary of Agriculture that will provide federal assistance (read: $$) to weed management agencies fighting noxious weeds. Spearheaded by Idaho Senator Larry Craig, the bill was passed unanimously by the Senate, and is now on its way to President Bush...no word on whether he plans to sign it or not. You can read the full press release here.
For this bill, "Noxious Weed" is defined as it was in the Plant Protection Act (pdf) passed in 2000:
"The term ‘‘noxious weed’’ means any plant or plant product that can directly or indirectly injure or cause damage to crops (including nursery stock or plant products), livestock, poultry, or other interests of agriculture, irrigation, navigation, the natural resources of the United States, the public health, or the environment."
So while it is likely that a great amount of resources would go towards agricultural weeds (this was wholeheartedly supported by Idaho after all), projects involving threatened natural resources would also qualify.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Tuesday, October 12, 2004
They've been slimed
Looks like the West coast is dealing with their own sea squirt invasion. As reported by the Seattle Post Intelligencer, a colony of Didemnum lahillei was recently discovered in Edmonds Underwater Park, located in Puget Sound. This is apparently the same species of sea squirt found in the East coast's Georges Bank last year. Divers have been enlisted to isolate the tunicates with plastic and dispence chlorine tablets to eradicate them. Bonus points to the Post-Intelligencer for using the sea squirt's scientific name.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:45 PM
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Monday, October 11, 2004
A Mitey Rose
Seems there's more to the multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) than its weedy ways. According to this report from IndyStar.com, a mite that is found on multiflora rose is causing garden roses to keel over. The tiny wingless Eriophyoid mite (Phyllocoptes fructiphilus) is a vector for rose rosette disease (RRD), which affects multiflora rose and has spread to planted rose species as well. There is no known cure once a plant is infected. The organism that causes RRD was once considered for use as a biological control of the multiflora rose.
Jennifer Forman Orth 11:11 PM
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Sunday, October 10, 2004
Night of the Frankenfish
Last night I watched "Snakehead Terror" and about half of "Frankenfish" on the Sci-Fi Channel. That's 3 hours of my life I'll never get back :-( "Snakehead Terror" starred Bruce 'I'll never get another role like the one I had on B5' Boxleitner, and was about a lake that sounded a lot like Crofton Pond in Maryland. After poisoning the pond ruined the livelihood of many of the town's businesspeople, a few of them got together and decided to add Human Growth Hormone to the water to speed up the growth of the new fish. Unfortunately there were rotenone-resistant snakeheads still in the lake, and HGH caused them to grow eight feet long and to crave human flesh. "Frankenfish" seemed to be about an ecccentric trophy hunter who paid Asian gangmembers (Snakeheads?) to release a gigantic snakehead into the swamps of New Orleans. I'm not exactly sure though, because I fell asleep after the second houseboat owner met his demise :-).
Labels: snakehead
Jennifer Forman Orth 8:21 PM
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