Sunday, May 31, 2009

Parking Violation

If California has problems with invasive plants now, what would happen if it closed all of its state parks?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

St. Pauli Beetle?

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) has been found in St. Paul, Minnesota, the first occurrence of the invasive beetle in that state. The infestation was found by a tree care company that found the larvae in ash trees and reported it to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Read the official press release here, and for instant updates, follow the MDA's Twitter feed or their Facebook updates.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Stalk Marketing

A recent study done by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) indicates that the longer a plant is cultivated, the more likely it is to become naturalized. The study was done using nursery catalogs starting from back in the late 1800s. Is length of time available for sale a strong factor in determining whether a species will become invasive? Read the full research article in Ecology, if you have a subscription.