Meow Mix

To whoever is feeding the feral cats (Felis domesticus) at the abandoned building on Mt. Vernon St. (by UMass Boston):

The flock of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) really appreciates the cat food, all 150 of them. I have a feeling if there was ever a cat in that plastic carrier you put by the fence, it's been picked clean by now.

The JPAC from the CEC of the NAFTA, OK?

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), working under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), heard from their Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) last December about invasive species. The JPAC presented official advice to the CEC, which you can now download as a .pdf file and read for yourself: "Preventing and Controlling Invasive Species in North America." The advice is pretty vague, but does recognize that invasive species are a problem that should be given high priority.

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

Land of Cotton?

Georgia is the latest state to succumb to the horrors of the hemlock wooly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), according to this article from The Gainesville Times. At risk are the livelihoods of many native plant and animal species that depend on hemlock forests for survival. To see a Powerpoint presentation on wooly adelgid in the Southern Appalachians, click here and search for "Rich Evans" (10Mb file).

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)