An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

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.

View related information:

  • 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.
  • Conference and Events
    To view more details for the "New Events" section (last 5 events added), and for all conferences and events.

Recent News

  • APHIS Expands the European Cherry Fruit Fly (Rhagoletis cerasi) Quarantine to include all of Monroe and Wayne Counties, New York

    • May 28, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • Effective May 11, 2021, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYS AGM) expanded the European cherry fruit fly (ECFF) quarantine to include all of Monroe County and Wayne County and a small portion of northwestern Ontario County, New York. With this expansion, the ECFF quarantine now includes all of Erie, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, and Wayne Counties. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of ECFF to non-infested areas of the United States, while maintaining commercial cherry production and marketing within the state. The APHIS website reflects the expansion of this quarantine and contains a description of all the current federal fruit fly quarantine areas.

    • Post Date
      Jun 05, 2021
  • USDA Announces 2021 Plans for Asian Longhorned Beetle Eradication Efforts in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and South Carolina

    • Jun 3, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing its plans for combatting the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina in 2021. "Every year, APHIS evaluates and determines the most effective options to achieve ALB eradication," said Osama El-Lissy, APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine Deputy Administrator. "Complete eradication of this pest from the United States remains our goal, and our strategy this year will advance our efforts to eliminate this pest from where it is infesting trees."

      In 2021, the ALB program will focus on inspecting trees in quarantined areas in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina, and removing infested trees at no cost to property owners. The program will not apply insecticide treatments this year. Program officials will monitor for the beetle's presence inside and around each area, respond to calls for assistance, conduct training sessions for compliance agreement holders, and perform outreach.

    • Post Date
      Jun 04, 2021
  • Climate Change Fans Spread of Pests and Threatens Plants and Crops, New FAO Study

    • Jun 2, 2021
    • UN. Food and Agriculture Organization.

    • Due to the impact of climate change, plant pests that ravage economically important crops are becoming more destructive and posing an increasing threat to food security and the environment, finds a scientific review released this week. The Scientific Review on the Impact of Climate Change on Plant Pests - A global challenge to prevent and mitigate plant pest risks in agriculture, forestry and ecosystems was prepared under the auspices of the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention and is one of the key initiatives of the International Year of Plant Health, which is coming to an end this month. "The key findings of this review should alert all of us on how climate change may affect how infectious, distributed and severe pests can become around the world," said the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Qu Dongyu. "The review clearly shows that the impact of climate change is one of the greatest challenges the plant health community is facing," added Qu.

    • Post Date
      Jun 04, 2021
  • APHIS Adds Del Norte County in California to Phytophthora ramorum Quarantine Area

    • May 21, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is expanding the Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum) quarantine area in Del Norte County, California. APHIS is taking this action in response to the confirmation of P. ramorum in the county on September 19, 2020. The California Department of Food and Agriculture has established an intrastate quarantine for the areas in Del Norte County that mirrors the federal regulatory requirements as specified in 7 CFR 301.92.

      P. ramorum is the pathogen that causes sudden oak death, ramorum leaf blight, or ramorum dieback. Sudden oak death was first reported in 1995 on tan oak in Mill Valley, Marin County, California. Through ongoing surveys, APHIS continues to define the extent of the pathogen's distribution in the United States and uses quarantine areas and public outreach to limit its artificial spread beyond infected areas. Details on APHIS-designated P. ramorum quarantine and regulated areas and the conditions to move regulated articles are in 7 CFR 301.92 and at the APHIS website.

    • Post Date
      May 31, 2021
  • APHIS Adds Eau Claire and Richland Counties, Wisconsin to the Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) Quarantine Area

    • May 19, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is adding Eau Claire and Richland Counties in Wisconsin to the list of quarantine areas for gypsy moth (GM). The GM populations in these counties have reached the threshold to trigger the quarantine expansion. To prevent the further spread of GM, the Federal Order establishes Eau Claire and Richland Counties in Wisconsin as quarantine areas. Effective immediately, all interstate movement of GM-regulated articles from Eau Claire and Richland Counties must be handled in accordance with the attached Federal Order. Wisconsin has established a parallel state quarantine.

    • Post Date
      May 23, 2021
  • USDA Expands the Federal Quarantine Area for Asian Longhorned Beetle in South Carolina

    • May 21, 2021
    • USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

    • Effective immediately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), together with South Carolina Clemson University's Department of Plant Industry (DPI), is adding portions of Charleston and Dorchester Counties to the quarantine area for the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) in South Carolina. This action is being taken in response to the detection of two infested trees found earlier this year just outside of the current quarantine area.

      If you live in the quarantine area, please help by allowing officials access to your property to inspect and remove trees. If you live in Charleston County, Dorchester County, or nearby counties, please look for ALB and examine your trees for any damage that may be caused by the beetle, such as dime-sized exit holes in tree trunks and branches. Please take pictures and, if possible, capture suspicious insects in a durable container and freeze them, which helps to preserve the insects for identification. ALB is not harmful to people or pets. Report the insect or tree damage by calling the ALB hotline at 1-866-702-9938 or submitting a report online at www.AsianLonghornedBeetle.com.

    • Post Date
      May 22, 2021
  • Invasive Alien Species Cost Africa's Agricultural Sector an Estimated USD $3.6 Trillion a Year

    • May 20, 2021
    • CAB International.

    • CABI scientists have conducted the first comprehensive study on the economic impact of a range of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) on Africa's agricultural sector, which they estimated to be USD $3.6 trillion a year. This is equivalent to 1.5 times the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of all African countries combined – or similar to that of Germany. The average annual cost of IAS per country was USD $76.32 billion. Full details of the cost for individual countries are outlined in the paper published in the journal CABI Agriculture and Bioscience.

    • Post Date
      May 20, 2021
  • IUCN Standard to Support Global Action on Invasive Alien Species

    • Sep 2020
    • International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

    • IUCN has launched a global standard for classifying the severity and type of impacts caused by alien species, known as the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT). This tool will alert scientists, conservation practitioners and policy makers to the potential consequences of invasive alien species, guiding the development of prevention and mitigation measures.

    • Post Date
      May 17, 2021
  • MDC Asks Anglers to Help Stop Invasive Round Gobies

    • May 6, 2021
    • Missouri Department of Conservation.

    • Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries biologists say that the Show-Me-State has another aquatic invader to be on the watch for. It's already been detected in the Mississippi River near St. Louis—and anglers might be the first line of defense. The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is native to the Black and Caspian Seas between Europe and Asia and was brought to the U.S. by way of the Great Lakes in cargo ship ballast. Since then, the invasive fish has made its way down the Illinois River and has been confirmed just across the Mississippi at Alton, Illinois. MDC encourages anglers to take photos and email MDC with details if they encounter any round gobies. Anglers should report the sighting and email photos to MDCgoby@mdc.mo.gov.

    • Post Date
      May 07, 2021
  • Forests for Bats: New Booklet for Landowners and Managers

    • May 6, 2021
    • USDA. FS. Southern Research Station. CompassLive.

    • "Almost all North American bats rely on forests for survival," says Roger Perry, USDA Forest Service research wildlife biologist. Perry recently led the team that updated Forest Management and Bats, a booklet designed for private landowners and anyone managing forests. It was first published in 2006 by Bat Conservation International, and Daniel Taylor of BCI wrote the original version and contributed to the update. The updated publication is a 2020 product of the White-nose Syndrome National Plan.

    • Post Date
      May 06, 2021