Launch Party's Over

Fresh off the defeat of the grass carp bill, legislators in Maine have introduced another bill to fight invasive aquatic plants. Sponsored by Senator John Martin, the bill would require boat inspections at all public boat launches, and would keep the launches gated when inspectors are not available. The Press Herald has the story, along with comments from lake associations (feeling overwhelmed about tryint to keep weeds out of lakes) and fishermen (not happy about restricting public access to lakes, since people with money will just use private boat launches). All Mainers with motorized boats on inland waters must already purchase and display a Lake and River Protection Sticker.

Hawaii Fly-O

The ARS News Service has this story about the work of Hawaiian Agricultural Research Service scientists to manage populations of non-native fruit flies. The Hawaii Area-Wide Fruit Fly Integrated Pest Management Program teaches farmers to implement biological controls, field sanitation protocols, and integrated pest management. Using the techniques, some farmers have been able to cut back significantly on the amount of pesticides they normally use, and can plant crops that were previously considered difficult and costly due to damage caused by fruit flies.

Pluck Your Magic Twanger, Froggy!

A search has begun in New Zealand for the invasive banjo frog (Limnodynastes dumerilii) after a woman thought she heard the distinctive twanging call of the Australian amphibians. According to this article from Stuff.co.nz, while no banjo frogs have been discovered so far, the woman resides in Huia, the town where tadpoles of that species were reported several years ago. On a related but decidedly unscientific note, I cannot help but link to this cute drawing.

Thanks to a member of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting a link to the article.

New in the Literature

Recently published journal articles:

• "CO2 Enrichment Reduced the Energetic Cost of Biomass Construction in an Invasive Desert Grass" by Jennifer M. Nagel, Travis E. Huxman, Kevin L. Griffin, and Stanley D. Smith. Ecology. 85(1), pp. 100-106.
• "Introduced mammals in Australian rangelands: Future threats and the role of monitoring programmes in management strategies." by G. P. EDWARDS, A. R. POPLE, K. SAALFELD and P. CALEY. Austral Ecology. 29(1), p. 40.
• "Weeds and the monitoring of biodiversity in Australian rangelands." by A. C. Grice. Austral Ecology. 29(1), p. 51.
• "Conservation Forum." Conservation Biology. 18(1), pp. 38-61+. (Five articles about Biological Control)

Knotweed or Not?

kgw.com has this AP article describing the problems Oregon is having with knotweed. Unfortunately the common name "knotweed" is used to refer to any number of species, so the general reader will have no idea what plant the article is referring to. You can tell that whatever it is, it's invasive, it has hollow stems, and The Nature Conservancy wants to use herbicide injections to get rid of it. Luckily, your expert ISW reporter can narrow it down for you. They're likely talking about Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica or Polygonum cuspidatum). But they might also be talking about its gigantic but less common cousin, Giant knotweed (F. sachalinensis), or the hybrid between these species, F. x bohemica. Or maybe even Himalayan knotweed (Polygonum polystachum). All of these knotweed species are currently making their presence known in the Pacific Northwest. Whichever it is, best of luck to TNC on their control project.

Holes

In response to the discovery of 16 trees with suspicious looking "exit wounds," officials in Fairfax County, Virginia are getting ready to remove almost 200 ash trees by this spring. As reported by the Washington Post, the reason behind the extreme reaction is the fear that the trees are infested with the dreaded emerald ash borer beetle (Agrilus planipennis). The trees in question were purchased from a nursery in southeast Michigan, an area which is now under quarantine because of the ash borer invasion. If beetles are found, this would be the first known occurence of that invasive species in the state of Virginia. You can review the history of the emerald ash borer in the U.S. through previous ISW posts.

Thanks to a member of the Yahoo! group ma-eppc for posting a link to the article.

Peppercorns!

When I was at the supermarket the last week, looking to refill my pepper grinder, I found out two interesting things: 1) gourmet peppercorn blends often contain little true pepper and 2) those same blends can contain the invasive species Brazilian pepperbush (Schinus terebinthifolius). The bottle of McCormick's "Peppercorn Mélange" actually prints the scientific name of the plant in the ingredient list (You can see a photo of the product here). McCormick lists the berries, usually referred to in the spice trade as "Pink Peppercorns," as from the Island of Réunion. While the shrubs are cultivated on that island, which is located in the Indian Ocean, inhabitants are also apparently dealing with a major invasion. I'm going to try germinating some of the seeds from bottle I bought, and will post my results here in the ISW.