Heard Through The Grapevine

A European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) has been found in Napa Valley, California, the first find of this pest in the USA (via InvasiveInfo).

Cell Invasion Biology

The Center for Embedded and Networked Sensing (CENS) has come up with a cool way to use smartphones to quickly and easily link GPS data to photos and store that data so that it can be mapped. The National Park Service is now using the technology to record locations of invasive plants in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

The World In Your Oyster Bed

A new study published in the journal Oecologia reveals that California oyster beds are under attack from introduced species, including Atlantic snails and the European green crab.

Parking Violation

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

Tahoe Tango

The Reno Gazatte-Journal is reporting that Lake Tahoe had a near miss last week when a boater showed up with quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) on his vessel. The boater's last stop: Lake Mead, site of the fairly infamous first known occurrence of quaggas on the west coast. The boat was apparently decontaminated when it left that lake, but that did not dislodge the mussels attached to the boat's stern. Though officials in California are hoping the hot water treatment killed the mussels, that did not stop them from placing the boat under quarantine until they can be sure it is safe.

Small Craft Advisory

KPBS in California is reminding listeners who might be thinking of heading out onto the water this Labor Day weekend to keep a mindful eye on their boating equipment. With the recent discoveries of both quagga and zebra mussels in their state, California boaters are being asked to keep their boats free of potential invasive species, and that means inspecting and cleaning them from trailer to hull. It also means thinking twice before jumping from one body of water to another - officials are asking boaters to instead wait five days between launching sites. Good advice for anyone with a boat or personal watercraft.

You Can Lead A Snake To Water...

An NAS Alert just came through that the Northern watersnake (Nerodia sipedon), a species known only in the eastern half of North America, has been found in California. A 2007 publication in the journal Herpetological Review indicates that a breeding population has been established near Sacramento. It is likely that this was the result of someone was keeping the snakes as pets and decided to let them go in the wild. Now, California already has a Southern water snake (Nerodia fasciata), which begs the question: will they hybridize?

Spray Canned

The Mercury News, among others, is reporting that plans for the spraying of pheromones to combat the light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana, or "LBAM") in northern California were scaled back. The change follows a public outcry and concern that the chemicals in the spray could cause harm to human health. The California Department of Food and Agriculture will instead focus the aerial spraying program mainly agricultural and undeveloped, and will continue to use the pheromone to thwart the LBAM through manually applied lures. In addition, the CDFA is ramping up a program to release sterile male moths that will begin in 2009.

Thanks to Dawn E. for sending in a link to this story.

No Spray Zone?

Looks like the Governor of California [trying...so...hard...not to say...THE GOVERNATOR...oh well] is taking the claims of health risks associated with pheromone spraying for the light brown apple moth seriously. The Almanac, among others, is reporting that following the court decision banning spraying in Santa Cruz County, all aerial spraying for LBAM (Epiphyas postvittana) in the state of California will cease until at least mid-August, so that thorough testing can be done to inform the government of the safety (or lack thereof) of the process.

Up The Garden Path

Michael K. points to this nice article in the San Francisco Chronicle about gardening with native plants. It comes with an extensive list of alternatives to invasive plants that West Coasters will likely find useful, though I recommend heading right to the source at PlantRight.org, instead of diving in to the confusing formatting the Chronicle uses for their web page. If you're an East Coaster in the USA and you feel left out, you can check out this native plant gardening guide I made a while back.

How Do Ya Like Them Apple Moths?

California media outlets were abuzz today with news of a new study claiming that the light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana) is not likely to become a pest in the USA. The researchers visited New Zealand and reviewed data from that country, where the LBAM has been around for over a century and currently does little damage to crops, living in sync with native predators since widespread spraying of pesticides stopped several decades ago. The report also concludes that the controversial aerial spraying of pheromones to trap the moths is unlikely to work in California.

With all that media coverage, it was still frustratingly hard to track down the actual study, but here it is (pdf), courtesy of the California Progress Report. Go read it for yourself.

Lucky Louie

The Lodi News-Sentinel has a nice story about California's program to train dogs to sniff out zebra and quagga mussels along with other invasive aquatic species. The dogs are trained with tennis balls scented to match a particular invader (I smell mussels!...eww) and do an amazingly thorough job of finding things in places where humans cannot.

Sure, the ISW has featured the whole "dog catches invasive alien species" story a few times before, but who can resist a dog wearing a vest? Plus, there's a new angle this time around - when the California Department of Fish and Game's grant money runs out, the K-9 portion of this program, known as "Californians Turn in Poachers," will be relying solely on donations to keep it going. If you want to find out more about making a donation, click through to the full article.

Retreat, Regroup, Reformulate

The Californian is reporting that their state's Department of Agriculture has stopped spraying for the light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana, or LBAM)...for now. The halting of the aerial applications of moth pheremones are in part due to the many complaints received from California residents concerned with the potential human health impacts of the chemicals. The USDA is currently seeking a longer-lasting formulation of the spray that won't need to be applied as frequently, and will work with the CDAR to come up with a new management plan for the LBAM once their investigation is complete.

For more background from the ISW on the LBAM invasion in California, click here.

Mangrove Stands...Again

San Diego has itself a case of invasive mangroves. For a type of tree best known as a component of rare and treasured wetland ecosystems, this may surprise some. Yet several decades ago, someone decided to plant gray mangroves (Avicennia marina) in Mission Bay, California, and according to this story from the San Diego Union-Tribune, they won't go away. Apparently the species was thought to have been eradicated from the bay over ten years ago, but is now back with a vengeance. A team of volunteers led by the Audubon Society is currently working at removing the trees, in the hopes of creating more suitable nesting habitat for endangered birds that frequent the wetland.

Building Strong Mussels

The L.A. Times is reporting that the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) has just been discovered in the state of California. Over the past several months, California has been dealing with the repercussions of the discovery of multiple populations of quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) but until now, had not seen the quagga's better known relative. There is some concern from state officials about the consequences of the introduction since the zebra mussels are located in San Justo Reservoir, which supplies water to farmers and homeowners in San Benito County. As of right now, the extent of the invasion is not known, but it is likely that this will result in some changes over the coming months regarding the way this reservoir and fishing site is used.

Weekend Blog Blogging

The past couple weeks in invasive species posts, from elsewhere in the blogosphere:

• Greg over at the Gondola Blog writes about his experiences discovering quagga mussels in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada and getting stopped for a boat inspection in California.
• Environmental graffiti posts "The 5 Worst Invasive Plants," a sequel to last month's "The 5 Worst Invasive Species in the World."
• Rock Paper Lizard has a post about gray squirrels run amok in the island city of Richmond, British Columbia.

Blister Blues

The Tahoe Daily Tribune is reporting that white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) is on the move in the Tahoe Basin, the area surrounding Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada. The rust fungus, an introduction from Central Asia, attacks sugar pine, Western white pine, whitebark pine (commonly referred to as the "five-needle" pines), and many species of currants (Ribes spp.) as well. Once infected, the trees are weakened and can die from secondary infections, insect infestations, or from the rust fungus alone.

Given the difficulty of fighting a fungal invader, which can easily spread to new trees through tiny, wind-blown spores, scientists are instead focusing on the discovery of sugar pines that are resistant to the rust. A breeding program currently in progress aims to grow as many resistant seedlings as possible so that they can be planted throughout Tahoe Basin.

If you are curious about the origin and global spread of white pine blister rust, this PowerPoint presentation from Kim Hummer will provide you with all the details.

Weekend Blog Blogging

The past week in invasive species posts, from elsewhere in the blogosphere:

• Sifolinia takes a break from ant blogging to pick up some Asian lady beetles, and ponders whether it is already a lost cause.
• Even more about the light brown apple moth, this time from 0tt's livejournal.
• Walking is Transportation posts about a new path that's as good for walkers as it is bad for invaders.

Dog Catchers

The state of California is training dogs to sniff out quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) on infested boats, according to this report from the Sacramento Bee. The dogs are far better than humans at locating the tiny bivalves, finding them faster and in nooks and crannies that would escape the human eye. It is a bit expensive to buy these persistent pooches - a single dog costs $8000 to $12,000. But with California already spending millions to deal with the recently arrives quaggas, that likely seems a small price to pay.

A quick perusal of the ISW archives brings up posts about dogs detecting Burmese pythons, mealybugs and spotted knapweed. Is there anything dogs can't smell do?

Thanks to members of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting about this story.

Let Us Spray?

Should the state of California be allowed to commence aerial spraying in order to combat the light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana)? Some concerned citizens are saying no loud enough to be heard. The California Farm Bureau Federation is reporting that plans to spray a pheremone over infested portions of the central coast of California have hit a few roadblocks as objections were raised about whether polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate, an inert ingredient in the spray, might be hazardous. Lawsuits at both the city and county level have put some treatments on hold, while the California Department of Food and Agriculture continues to hold meetings to inform the public about their management plans.

Readers interested in the subject of the "LBAM" should check out this previous ISW post on the subject. It has generated quite a few comments (by the ISW's meager standards, anyway).