Oldie but Goodie

Seems like there's been a lot of carp news lately, but trouble has been brewing on the carp front for several years now, as evidenced by this story from the June 2001 issue of Fly, Rod & Reel. In it, Ted Williams describes the ugly politics that came into play when the head of MICRA, an organization of state departments in the Missouri River Basin, spoke out about the fact that the black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) being raised by fish farmers in the region were dangerous potential invaders. MICRA got the federal government to consider banning the black carp back in 2002, but angered a powerful fisheries industry in the process. The result? A good man lost his job, and an NGO lost its funding. There are still no carp species on the Lacey Act's List of Injurious Wildlife Species, though the black carp issue, was recently reopened this past summer.

Adopt-A-Beetle

The Girl Scouts of Penn's Woods have come up with a unique spin on a project to save Pennsylvania's hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis), according to this article from NEPA Today. Send them $3 and you can adopt a ladybird beetle (Pseudoscymnus tsugae), the only natural predator of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). The Adopt-A-Beetle program will send you an adoption card and a picture of a ladybird beetle that can be decorated, then sent back to be posted on the "wall of beetle heroes." You can purchase the kits at the address given in the article, or by calling 1 (800) 432-4672. The troop is hoping to raise enough money to purchase and release 5000 beetles. Without predators, the spread of the woolly adelgid will comtinue unchecked, and it only takes seven years for them to kill an adult hemlock tree.

New Year, New Features

The ISW had been updated:

• Now with 3 columns, so I can stuff even more information on one web page!
• Need to keep up on invasive species issues? Register to receive an email whenever this blog is updated, by clicking on the "Bot-A-Blog" link at the bottom of the first column.
• Learn about the history of the ISW by clicking on the "About" link in the lefthand column (Added 1/7/04).
• Even though the commenting feature was just recently installed, it is now active for all 21 months of posts. Feel free to comment away, link to updates, etc.

Legislators as Bucket Biologists?

MaineToday.com has a story about the introduction of a bill by two Maine state representatives that aims to test whether grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) might be a good way to combat invasive aquatic weeds. Those who have experienced the devastation caused by hungry Asian carp might take issue with the article's description of the fish as "gentle basking fish from China." Maine's state biologists are rightfully wary of the new legislation, claiming that they've already investigated the issue and that grass carp are too much of a risk.

It's Something in the Water

It's just been one problem after another for New Zealand's Lake Omapere, according to this article from The New Zealand Herald. Back in 2000, populations of oxygen weed (an American invasive, either Egeria densa or Elodea canadensis) were so large that they were smothering anything trying to grow at the bottom of the lake. To combat the weed's spread, officials released over 40,000 grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), known to many as an invasive fish species. Oxygen weed levels have dropped, but the decline appears to be the result of a huge algal bloom across the lake surface. Now the algae-rich lake water is contaminating local rivers, and officials are warning people to avoid even coming into contact with it. The government has dedicated more funding towards studying the problem, hopefully from a nutrient-level standpoint.

Thanks to S. Pagad for sending in the link to this story.

Beetle Barely

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), a relatively recent invader here in the U.S., has attracted a lot of attention. Now it even has its very own insecticide: BotaniGard. Produced by the Michigan-based Emerald BioAgriculture Corp, BotaniGard contains the fungus Beauveria bassiana. This fungus has been shown to be quite successful at killing adult beetles when sprayed on tree trunks prior to beetle emergence. You can read all about the discovery of the fungus and the history of the company that produces BotaniGard in this article from The Detroit News.

Thanks to the Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers website for posting a link to the article.

Recently Published

From the December issues of the scientific journals:

• "Scale-Dependent Associations Among Fish Predation, Littoral Habitat, and Distributions of Crayfish Species." 2003. James E. Garvey, Jessica E. Rettig, Roy A. Stein, David M. Lodge, and Steven P. Klosiewski. Ecology. 84(12), 3339-3348. (From 15 year-old data!)
• "Increased Competitive Ability of an Invasive Tree may be limited by an Invasive Beetle." 2003. Evan Siemann and William E. Rogers. Ecological Applications. 13(6), 1503-1507. (Chinese tallow tree [Sapium sebiferum] vs. Chinese rose beetle [Adoretus sinicus])
• "Potential for Self-Defeating Biological Control? Variation in Herbivore Vulnerability among Invasive Spartina Genotypes." 2003. Dino Garcia-Rossi, Nathan Rank, and Donald R. Strong. Ecological Applications. 13(6), 1640-1649.
• "Effects of Introduces Bees on Native Ecosystems." by Dave Goulson. 2003. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 34, 1-26.
• "The Ecology of Bird Introductions." by Richard P. Duncan, Tim M. Blackburn, and Daniel Sol. 2003. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 34, 99-125.
• "Performance Comparisons of Co-occurring Native and Alien Invasive Plants: Implications for Conservation and Restoration." by Curtis C. Daehler. 2003. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 34, 183-211.