Hunting Invasive Species

Here is a great interview with the author of the book "Eating Aliens: One Man's Adventures Hunting Invasive Animal Species".

http://grist.org/food/the-ultimate-guilt-free-diet-hunting-invasive-species/

Guest Article - Surveying for Illinois Invasives with the CAPS Program

Illinois is full of dedicated people and innovative ideas for addressing invasive species.  From time to time, this blog is going to host guest articles in which the stories about some of these people, projects, or ideas are told.  The next article in this series comes from Kelly Estes with the Illinois CAPS program.  The CAPS program is the epitome of Early Detection and Rapid Response through cooperative efforts.   All of the guest articles can be viewed HERE.

Surveying for Illinois Invasives with the CAPS Program

by Kelly Estes

While a central geographic location and a superior transportation system afford Illinois a competitive advantage over many other states in commodity movement, these same factors make Illinois extremely vulnerable to accidentally or purposely introduced exotic pests. The U.S. imports nearly $400 billion in goods from the Pacific Rim; more than $125 billion from China alone. The busiest corridor in the U.S. for transporting intermodal containers by rail runs from Long Beach, California, to Chicago, Illinois, and Chicago in particular is home to the largest rail gateway in the nation, connecting eastern and western United States and Canada. An excellent highway system of 2,000 miles and 34,500 miles of other state highways make trucking of goods fast and efficient. More than 65 million travelers pass through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport annually. Illinois’ 1,118 miles of navigable waterways including the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, make barge traffic an excellent option for shipment of grain to the Gulf of Mexico and shipment of imported steel and machinery upriver. However, any activity that allows the rapid movement of commodities also allows the development of fast-moving pest pathways. These fast moving pathways not only cut through Illinois’ agricultural commodity regions, but its natural areas as well. Illinois woodlands, wetlands, and prairies may also be affected by the potential invasion of exotic pests. Many of the invasive threats have a large host range. Not only will a potential invasive pest affect the Illinois economy, but it may also affect the beauty of our landscape, the diversity of our environment, and lead to the destruction of natural habitats.

While the first line of defense remains preventing the entry of exotic plant pests, domestic detection and response activities are equally important in the event that dangerous foreign plant pests enter the U.S. A primary objective of the Cooperative Agriculture Pest Survey (CAPS) program is to safeguard our nation’s food and environmental security from exotic pests that threaten our production and ecological systems. Surveys conducted through the CAPS program represent a second line of defense against harmful plant pests and weeds. These surveys not only target high-risk hosts and commodities, but also gather information about pests that were recently introduced to establish better baseline data. These activities are accomplished primarily under USDA funding that is provided through cooperative agreements with state departments of agriculture, universities, and other entities.

Surveying for
 exotic bark beetles

Surveys targeting high risk hosts and commodities. Over the past years, the CAPS program has shifted its strategy from being solely “pest-specific,” to a format for surveying for several pests based on commodities, taxons, environments and habitats, industries and businesses, and pest introduction pathways. Each state, with input from federal and state CAPS partners, industry partners, university representatives, and others meets to discuss potential survey targets each year. These stakeholders help set survey priorities based on a prioritized PPQ pest list (based on risk of introduction and regulatory concern) and each state’s resources, hosts, climates, and other factors.

Gathering data on recently introduced pests. Information gathered during surveys is summarized and entered into National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS) database. The NAPIS database stores and manages pest survey data that is collected by CAPS and other USDA-APHIS-PPQ programs. Maps are summarized and made available to the public through the NAPIS Pest Tracker Website. The Pest Tracker Website provides maps detailing surveys conducted around the U.S. for different invasive species as well as sharing links to pest news and information for the different states.

Survey results for 2011 TCD Survey

Currently, the Illinois CAPS program is finishing up its 2012 survey season. Our focus this last summer was on invasive pests of fruit trees in Illinois. Insect traps were deployed across the state for the False Codling Moth, Plum Fruit Moth, and Summer Fruit Tortrix Moth. All three of these moths have an extremely large host range that could impact several fruit commodities grown in Illinois. A second part of this survey looked for two state pests of concern – the brown marmorated stink bug and spotted wing drosophila. To date, we have confirmed spotted wing drosophila in several Illinois counties. We are also in our second year of surveying for thousand cankers disease (TCD) in Illinois. It was our first year in utilizing a newly released lindgren funnel trap and pheromone combination that attracts the vector of TCD, the walnut twig beetle. While samples are still being processed from this past summer, we are looking forward to getting these traps out again in 2013.

Also in 2013, we will be starting a new survey targeting oak pests. Over 53% of the forest cover in Illinois consists of oak and hickory – and this doesn’t include any oaks planted in urban areas. There are several invasive oak pests that if established in Illinois, would not only threaten the diversity of our natural areas, but dramatically impact our forest product industry and nursery trade. Pheromone traps will be placed targeting the oak ambrosia beetle, Egyptian cottonworm moth, rosy gypsy moth, and golden tortrix moth. We are also excited to be utilizing a new biosurveillance survey technique that monitors Cerceris wasp colonies. This buprestid-hunting wasp offers another approach to monitor for not only emerald ash borer, but also the oak splendour beetle, goldspotted oak borer, and European oak borer.  The thousand cankers disease survey will continue with both walnut twig beetle trapping and monitoring the visual health of walnuts across the state.

Kelly Estes is the State Survey Coordinator for the Illinois CAPS program. Please check out the CAPS blog and website to keep up to date on invasive species information in Illinois.

Reminder - Focus Group Meeting on Invasive species for Aquarium Hobbyists and Water Gardeners

From Erin Seekamp,


In partnership with the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Erin Seekamp (Assistant Professor, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University) will be conducting one focus groups at Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe Illinois on September 26th from 6-8pm and another one in Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Illinois on September 27th from 6-8pm.

We are seeking input from residents of North Chicago and the greater Peoria area with hobby interests in aquariums and water gardens. We are hoping to capture their ideas about how to best keep the species with which they work (fish, reptiles, amphibians, and aquatic plants) from entering Illinois' waterways. Their ideas will be used to develop a statewide survey (to be distributed through pet stores and garden nurseries) and to develop future outreach campaigns to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species.

Our press release about the project is pasted below.



We truly appreciate your assistance,
Erin Seekamp, North Carolina State University, erin_seekamp@ncsu.edu, 919.513.7407



Glencoe Press Release:
Aquarium Hobbyists and Water Gardeners: Join the discussion and help fight AIS Protecting Illinois’ natural areas and waterbodies requires your help. Now is your chance to voice your opinion and help shape statewide education and outreach efforts to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS).

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) are conducting a focus group in Glencoe on Wednesday, September 26th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

AIS can easily be released into the environment by aquarium and water garden species hobbyists. The goals of this discussion are to learn what you think about practices to reduce the spread of AIS and to help design future campaigns that speak to the people of Illinois.

To register, please contact Erin Seekamp by phone at (919) 513-7407 or email at erin_seekamp@ncsu.edu.

IISG is one of 32 programs nationwide that address a number of coastal issues through research, education and outreach. The program is committed to informing the public about the problems posed by AIS as well as how to prevent their spread. Dr. Erin Seekamp is a faculty member and researcher in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM), College of Natural Resources, NCSU. PRTM is a national leader in research and extension activities - dedicated to finding real solutions for real problems and transferring that knowledge to help communities and people thrive.



Peoria Press Release:
Aquarium Hobbyists and Water Gardeners: Join the discussion and help fight AIS Protecting Illinois’ natural areas and waterbodies requires your help. Now is your chance to voice your opinion and help shape statewide education and outreach efforts to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS).

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) are conducting a focus group in Peoria on Thursday, September 27th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Forest Park Nature Center.

AIS can easily be released into the environment by aquarium and water garden species hobbyists. The goals of this discussion are to learn what you think about practices to reduce the spread of AIS and to help design future campaigns that speak to the people of Illinois.

To register, please contact Erin Seekamp by phone at (919) 513-7407 or email at erin_seekamp@ncsu.edu.

IISG is one of 32 programs nationwide that address a number of coastal issues through research, education and outreach. The program is committed to informing the public about the problems posed by AIS as well as how to prevent their spread. Dr. Erin Seekamp is a faculty member and researcher in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM), College of Natural Resources, NCSU. PRTM is a national leader in research and extension activities - dedicated to finding real solutions for real problems and transferring that knowledge to help communities and people thrive.

Aquarium Hobbyists and Water Gardeners: Join the discussion and help fight AIS

September 10, 2012

Protecting Illinois’ natural areas and waterbodies requires your help. Now is your chance to voice your opinion and help shape statewide education and outreach efforts to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS).

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) are conducting focus groups in Glencoe(Sept 26^th) and Peoria (Sept 27^th) with aquarium hobbyists and water gardeners. The two-hour meetings will occur between 6 and 8 pm on these evenings. A small monetary compensation for participation will be provided.

AIS can easily be released into the environment by aquarium and water garden hobbyists.  The goals of this discussion are to learn what you think about practices to reduce the spread of AIS and to help design future campaigns that speak to the people of Illinois.

For more information, contact Greg Hitzroth at hitzroth@illinois.edu.

To register for one of these meetings, please contact Erin Seekamp by phone at (919) 513-7407 or email at erin_seekamp@ncsu.edu.The specific meeting location will be disclosed upon registration.

IISG is one of 32 programs nationwide that address a number of coastal issues through research, education and outreach. The program is committed to informing the public about the problems posed by AIS as well as how to prevent their spread. Dr. Erin Seekamp is a faculty member and researcher in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM), College of Natural Resources, NCSU. PRTM is a national leader in research and extension activities - dedicated to finding real solutions for real problems and transferring that knowledge to help communities and people thrive.

Article on invasive Species in Autumn

The River to River CWMA published an article in 2011 on invasive species in fall.  Now that we are moving into the autumn months, this article might be worth another read.

http://rtrcwma.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-is-time-to-identify-many-woody.html

Reporting invasive species in Illinois

We know that almost anywhere you go in Illinois, you can likely find at least one invasive species.

Japanese chaff flower spread
along the Ohio River

What we don't have a clear idea of is which species are where.  Sometimes a new infestation of an invasive species is totally unexpected and seemingly can come out of nowhere (as did the recently discovered two new populations of Japanese stiltgrass in McHenry County).  Other times we can better predict and actually expect a new invader to show up on an established spread corridor (as did Japanese chaff flower spreading down the Ohio River).

What is important is being able to track those populations of invasive species that we do know about.  Having a good idea of the distribution of invasive species across the state helps us to plan and prioritize where and what to control and what to species to expect to show up in the future.

If you deal with invasive species in Illinois (either as part of your 'day job', as a volunteer, or on your own land), there are resources available that both allows you to see the distribution of invasive species in Illinois and lets you add to those maps by submitting new findings.

EDDMapS (www.eddmaps.org) is an online mapping system built specifically for tracking the distribution of invasive species.  This is a nationwide program so you can not only see what species are invading Illinois, you can also view those same species across the nation.  Anyone can view this information, and, with a simple and free sign-up, anyone can enter data on new findings.

The folks that developed EDDMapS has helped create two applications specifically for sections of Illinois.

If you live in Northeast Illinois, the New Invaders Watch Program, utilizes this mapping system on their website (www.newinvaders.org).  Better yet, when you enter a new infestation on a parcel of public land, the  managing agency is automatically alerted to that fact.

www.newinvaders.org

In southern Illinois, the River to River CWMA has mapping and data entry functions on its website (www.rtrcwma.org).  You can find the report sightings function here.  Both of these systems are tied together and share data.

Take a look at these systems and if you find something new in your area, please add it to the map and help out the statewide effort.

Burmese python captured at Waukegan lakefront

I don't think we need to worry about pythons overtaking Illinois like they are in the Everglades, but still here is a story of one found in Waukegan.

Original story can be found on the Lake County News-Sun website:
http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/15213780-418/burmese-python-captured-at-waukegan-lakefront.html

Burmese Python captured at Waukegan lakefront


BY DAN MORAN
dmoran@stmedianetwork.com

Last Modified: Sep 18, 2012 02:40AM

WAUKEGAN — A lakefront landscaper got more than he signed up for Monday when his work outside a Sea Horse Drive business produced a most unexpected discovery: A 12- to 15-foot Burmese python.

No one was injured during the encounter with the pale-yellow, possibly albino snake, which was uncovered around 10 a.m. near Sea Horse Drive and Clayton Street by an employee of a nearby business trimming bushes. The spot where the snake was in hiding sits across Sea Horse Drive from Waukegan Municipal Beach.

According to Lt. Edward Fitzgerald of the Waukegan Police Department, the snake was taken into custody without incident by animal control officers called to the scene.

“It was a little lethargic, because it’s been cold out and they’re cold-blooded. It wasn’t aggressive at all,” said Fitzgerald, though he added that the snake “kind of livened up a little bit” after a trip inside a van to the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest.

Fitzgerald said officials at the Discovery Center reported that the snake needed treatment for an unspecified illness but was otherwise in good shape.

As for how the member of a species native to Southeast Asia ended up on the shore of Lake Michigan, Fitzgerald said the snake appears to have been a reject, adding that police hadn’t fielded any reports about a missing python.

“It most likely that somebody dumped it,” he said. “There’s obviously no residences down there, so it probably didn’t crawl away from someone.” Wherever the snake came from, Fitzgerald said it was one for the local record books.

“It’s probably the biggest snake we’ve ever caught,” he said. “I would say it was around 12 to 15 feet, and it took two or three of our people to catch it.”