Think Locally, Act Globally

It turns out it's not just state officials that are concerned about burgeoning mute swan (Cygnus olor) populations in the U.S. (see previous blog entry). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a plan, currently open to public comment, that seeks to eradicate as much as 85% of the swans in the eastern U.S., in part by allowing states to issue permits to shoot the graceful invasives. Of course there are swan fans and animal rights activists very concerned about this, and you can read some of their points of view, as well as those of state wildlife officials, in this article about swans in my hometown, published in the Metrowest Daily News. If you would like to read the USFWS' draft environmental assessment for mute swan management, go here and click on the link (to a .pdf file). The deadline for comments is July 14th. Also, claims from people interviewed for the article that there was no evidence of the swans being invasive led me to search for and find evidence here and here.

Buy Me!

I was searching for something else today when I accidentally came across these really neat-looking baskets woven from water hyacinth leaves (Eichhornia crassipes). It is likely they were made in Africa, where this aquatic is extremely invasive, rather than in their native South America. Yours for only 40 Brit pounds (67 USD). I never was able to find what I was originally looking for: fake water hyacinth that I saw on display at a local nursery.

Free Range Beetles

Officials in Minnesota are keeping a watchful eye on the Douglas fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae), according to this story from the Duluth News Tribune. The beetles, native to the western U.S., may have arrived in Minnesota in shipments of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). While it remains unclear whether the beetles will have a significant impact on Minnesota forests, this episode has at least caused officials to more closely scrutinize state policies for the importation of wood products.

Uprooting Invasives in Glendale, WI

A group of concerned citizens in Glendale, Wisconsin wants the city to ban non-native invasive plants, including the official city flower, a Japanese yellow day lily. But as reported last month in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the city's in no rush to dig up one million dollars worth of plants like English ivy (Hedera helix), European mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) and the aforementioned lilies. A compromise is likely in the works, where non-natives may slowly be replaced with native species, but it may be difficult to find replacements that can tolerate urban habitats and pollution, since before Glendale was there, the city was a prairie.

Dirty Bird!

Sure, they're graceful, they're fun to feed, and their babies are the cutest things...but they're also nasty poop machines that pollute the water and devour aquatic vegetation. So goes the battle between those who love mute swans (Cygnus olor) and Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and those who wish to preserve native plants and animals, even if it means euthanizing charismatic megafauna. The drama continues in Maryland, where wildlife officials have just gotten permission to resume their reduction of mute swan populations (see previous blog entry), now thought to have expanded to over 14,000 birds. According to this article from the Maryland Sun, animal rights' activists in that state continue to fight the extermination program. In New Jersey, as reported in the New York Times, officials are meeting opposition to their efforts to rid the state of more than 2500 Canada geese, whose presence has significantly reduced park usage by humans. The Hartford Courant is reporting that Connecticut is also getting into the geese-hating act, having just approved a law to allow any homeowners to kill Canada geese if they can prove they have exhausted all efforts to make them go away.

Thanks to members of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting links to these stories.

Mussel Mass

As if Florida didn't already have enough to worry about with invasive plants, they have to deal with invertebrates like the Asian green mussel (Perna viridis) as well. According to this article in the Marco Island Eagle, a conference held last week updated scientists in the state concerned about marine and estuarine invasives. The Asian green mussel, thought to have been introduced via ballast and ship fouling, has been known in Florida's coastal waters since 1999, and is considered a threat to the shellfish industry and to seagrass habitats.

Slip and Sliders

From The Korea Times comes this report on the invasion of the American red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) in Korea. The turtles were imported into Korea from the late 1970s until they were banned in 2001. By that time over 6 million of them had been brought in to the country, first as part of a religious ritual (see this previous blog entry for a similar story from Hong Kong) and later as pets. They are now taking over many freshwater habitats, where they consume massive quantities of plant material over their 20-year life span. The article also briefly discusses other invasive species in Korea, the majority of them from America.

Thanks to a member of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting a link to this story. The importation of red-eared sliders is also banned in Europe.