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Invasive Species - What's New on NISIC's Site

See What's New on the NISIC's Web site. Includes items of interest that have been added to our site, in order of most recent post date.

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  • Resource Search - What's New
    Resources can be filtered by Subject, Resource Type, Location, or Source. If you wish to search for species-related resources and use refinements, enter the species name first before selecting the terms.
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    To view more details for the "New Events" section (last 5 events added), and for all conferences and events.

Recent News

  • Discovery of Invasive Bug Bad News for State of Kansas

    • Sep 13, 2021
    • Hays Post.

    • A 4-H student presenting a project at the Kansas State Fair has inadvertently triggered a state and federal investigation into a nasty, unwelcome bug. The student found the spotted lanternfly in Thomas County in western Kansas and included it in a 4-H entomology display.

    • Post Date
      Sep 16, 2021
  • Charitable Dollars Help In Fight Against Invasives In National Park System

    • Aug 25, 2021
    • National Parks Traveler.

    • National park philanthropy doesn't stop when it comes to trail and campground maintenance, science and research, or bringing inner-city youth to a park. Each year nearly $1.5 million from the National Park Foundation goes towards battling invasive species across the system.

    • Post Date
      Sep 16, 2021
  • California Establishes Quarantine to Prohibit the Introduction of the Spotted Lanternfly into California

    • Jul 16, 2021
    • California Department of Food and Agriculture.

    • A state exterior quarantine has been declared to prohibit the introduction of the spotted lanternfly (SLF), Lycorma delicatula, into California. Spotted lanternfly was first detected in North American in 2014 in Pennsylvania and has now spread to nine states. The quarantine prohibits the entry into California of SLF, its host plants, and a variety of articles, including conveyances, originating from any area where an SLF infestation exists.

      If you believe you have seen the spotted lanternfly, please contact CDFA's Invasive Species Hotline at 1-800-491-1899, via Report a Pest, or by contacting your local County Agricultural Commissioner.

    • Post Date
      Sep 11, 2021
  • USDA Continuing African Swine Fever Prevention Efforts – Preparing to Establish Foreign Animal Disease Protection Zone

    • Aug 26, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • As part of its continuing efforts to respond to the detection of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the Dominican Republic (DR) and prevent its introduction into the Conterminous United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is preparing to establish a Foreign Animal Disease protection zone in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. ASF has not been detected in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and USDA is committed to keeping it out of both islands and the rest of the United States. Out of an abundance of caution, APHIS is taking this additional action to further safeguard the U.S. swine herd and protect the interests and livelihoods of U.S. pork producers.

    • Post Date
      Sep 05, 2021
  • Species Profile -- Asian Jumping Worm

    • Asian jumping worm

      Asian jumping worms are native to east-central Asia and have been present in the U.S. since the late 1800s, but have been recently invading natural habitats in the Northeast and Midwest. These worms were introduced possibly through the horticultural trade or by anglers using them as bait. Asian jumping worms affect forest habitats by altering soil properties, resulting in reduced food resources for native species.

    • Post Date
      Sep 01, 2021
  • Species Profile -- English Ivy

    • English ivy

      English ivy is native to Europe and was introduced to the U.S. via the nursery trade. The earliest records of naturalization are from the 1870s. English ivy competes with native plants and can spread into tree canopies.

    • Post Date
      Aug 31, 2021
  • APHIS Removes a Portion of Harris County in Texas from the Domestic Citrus Canker (Xanthomonas spp.) Quarantine Area

    • Aug 23, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is removing a portion of Harris County within the Braeswood area of Houston, Texas, from citrus canker regulations. The successful partnership between APHIS and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) has resulted in a citrus canker-free status in this area since 2016.

      On May 20, 2016, APHIS confirmed the positive identification of citrus canker in two adjacent sour orange trees in a city park in the Braeswood area of Houston, in Harris County, Texas. TDA removed and destroyed both positive citrus canker trees. TDA established an intrastate quarantine area for citrus canker that paralleled the federal citrus canker regulatory requirements specified in 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 301.75. APHIS completed a comprehensive delimiting survey around the area and found no additional citrus trees positive for citrus canker within the survey area. The removal of this quarantine area is reflected on the APHIS website, which also contains a description of all the current federal citrus canker quarantine areas.

    • Post Date
      Aug 29, 2021
  • Species Profile -- Box Tree Moth

    • Box tree moth

      Box tree moth was confirmed in the U.S. in 2021 after it was imported on nursery plants shipped from Canada. This moth feeds primarily on boxwood plants (Buxus spp.), where heavy infestations can defoliate plants and lead to plant death.

    • Post Date
      Aug 27, 2021
  • APHIS Updates the Golden Nematode (Globodera rostochiensis) Regulated Area in Suffolk and Nassau Counties in New York

    • Aug 24, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is removing 45,562.067 acres from the golden nematode (GN) regulated area in Suffolk County, New York and refining the global positioning system (GPS) points for the descriptions of the regulated area in the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. APHIS is removing these areas based on survey results and other criteria in the "Canada and United States Guidelines on Surveillance and Phytosanitary Actions for the Potato Cyst Nematodes, Globodera rostochiensis and Globodera pallida”.

      Since 2010, APHIS, working closely with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYS AGM), has removed 1,186,693.79 acres from the GN-regulated area in New York. APHIS and NYS AGM have an active control and mitigation program in place to prevent GN from spreading from the remaining 101,955.27 acres, including 5,945 GN-infested acres in eight New York counties. The specific GN-regulated areas are on the APHIS website.

    • Post Date
      Aug 27, 2021
  • Invasive Plants are Still for Sale as Garden Ornamentals, Research Shows

    • Aug 9, 2021
    • University of Massachusetts - Amherst.

    • UMass Amherst study finds that invasive species are widely available due to inconsistent regulation. Results of a new study by ecologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst show that 1,330 nurseries, garden centers and online retailers are still offering hundreds of invasive plant species as ornamental garden plants. This includes 20 species that are illegal to grow or sell nationwide.

      The study, “Invaders for sale: the ongoing spread of invasive species by the plant trade industry,” published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, shows that existing regulatory and ethical guidelines do not serve to limit the widespread introduction of invasive plants and that more than 60% of the 1,285 plants identified as invasive remain for sale.

    • Post Date
      Aug 25, 2021