Snowflakes in Hawaii

The Honolulu Star Bulletin has this story about the invasive snowflake coral (Carijoa riisei) killing colonies of native black coral off the coast of Maui. Though the snowflake coral is so far only attacking black coral at its deepest ocean depths, scientists fear that the invasion will harm Hawaii's black coral market by reducing the establishment of new populations within reach of scuba divers. You may also want to check out this article from a July 2003 issue of the same newspaper. Bonus points to the Star Bulletin for using the scientific name.

Garlic Mustard Patrol

It's almost that time of year...soon garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) plants will be poking their insidious leaves out into the early springtime sun. Show your friends and colleagues that you can pull garlic mustard with the best of them, with this brand new "Garlic Mustard Patrol" T-shirt. Brought to you by the Invasive Species Weblog, this T-shirt joins the baseball cap and mug that are already part of the garlic mustard product line.

Exceptions to the Ruling

According to this article from Newsday, the Department of Environmental Conservation in New York recently issued emergency regulations regarding the import of live carp into the state. Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) will be completely prohibited, but bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) are exempted from the regulations for two reasons: 1) there is a large, well-established market for bigheads in New York City and Westchester County, where they are sold as food and 2) New York is seen as a transportation corridor for bighead carp markets in the Boston area (thanks New York :-P). Retailers that receive bighead carp in the approved New York areas are required to kill them before turning them over to the purchaser. You can read the full text of the regulation here, and read the impact statement here.

Oops

A tree removal company in Ontario, Canada, charged with removing ash trees in an effort to stop the spread of the emerald ash borer beetle (Agrilus planipennis), accidentally chopped down 80 walnut trees in the process. According to this story at MLive.com, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency admitted that some trees are being misidentified, while others have been cut down though they were not marked. When the project is completed, more than 64,000 ash trees will have been cut down (hey, that's only a 0.1% error rate).

Snips of Snails

The Sydney Morning Herald posted this article about the Asian tramp snail (Bradybaena similaris), whose populations have been begun expanding along the NSW coast of Australia. Scientists think the snails are thriving due to what has been a hot, humid summer in Sydney. Turns out Asian tramp snails are efficient hitchhikers, and have also made their presence known in Florida.

Thanks to members of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting links to the article and related web pages.

Invasive Species, or Roving Room Deodorizer?

Back in December, an alert went out across the U.S. about the wood-boring beetles being found in packages of pinecone potpourri. At the time, there weren't any really good pictures, but you can now see detailed images of larvae and what infested potpourri looks like. For more information, go to this page from Purdue University's Plant & Pest Diagnostic Laboratory, or this page from the Invasive Species of Concern in Maryland website.

UNited against invasives

There are big UN meetings, focusing on biodiversity, being held in two locations this week. This article from The Independent provides details about the International Maritime Organization's efforts to get countries to commit to ballast water management. This article from The Star (Malaysia) talks about UN efforts to significantly reduce loss of biodiversity.