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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. International Invasive Species
  3. North America
  4. Central America

Central America

Provides selected Central America resources from agencies and organizations with an interest in the prevention, control, or eradication of invasive species.

Spotlights

  • Canal Grass: Smithsonian Scientist Clears Up Panamanian Urban Legend

    • Nov 30, 2020

    • Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

    • Urban legends about the origins of canal grass in Panama abound, but the Smithsonian has new evidence that puts the question to rest. Canal grass is an invasive weed, native to Asia. Because its tiny seeds blow in the wind, it readily invades clearings and spreads to form impenetrable stands by budding from tillers and rhizomes. Once established, canal grass is challenging to eliminate.

  • Panama Canal: Superhighway for Invasive Species?

    • Feb 25, 2015

    • National Geographic.

    • When the expansion of the Panama Canal is completed in 2016, giant ships that now must dock at West Coast ports after crossing the Pacific will be able to deliver cargo directly to ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast. One thing they may be delivering, according to a recent study, is a much larger number of alien species.

All Resources

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Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this location, organized by source.

Partnership

  • NatureServe Network Directory

    • NatureServe.

    • This searchable directory includes contact information and self-identified areas of individual expertise for NatureServe, NatureServe Canada, and our Network Programs in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. More than 80 NatureServe Network Programs collect and analyze data about the plants, animals, and ecologi­cal communities of the Western Hemisphere. They are the leading source of information on the precise locations and conditions of at-risk species and threatened ecosystems in their jurisdictions. NatureServe collects, curates, and distributes that information for use at regional, national, and international scales. Staff throughout the Network are experts in their fields, and include some of the most knowledgeable field biologists and conservation planners in their regions.

Professional