Archive 2009

Destructive Mussels Closer to Western Nebraska Lakes

NGPC news release, 3/2/09:

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Larvae of the destructive quagga mussel, a species similar to the zebra mussel, recently have been discovered in several Colorado waters, including Julesburg Reservoir. Zebra mussels have been discovered in northeast Nebraska on sites along the Missouri River and at an Offutt Air Force Base lake.

According to Darrol Eichner, fisheries management supervisor for southwest Nebraska, whose responsibilities encompass Lake McConaughy, zebra and quagga mussels are extremely destructive. "They damage boat engines, threaten native mussels, fish and wildlife through competition and cost taxpayers millions of dollars by clogging power plant and public water intakes and pipes."

Eichner said the primary way these mussels can spread is on boats trailered by the public or commercial haulers. They can spread on boat hulls as visible adults ranging from 1/8- to 1-inch in size. They also can be transported as microscopic larvae, called veligers, in a boat's engine cooling system, bilge and live well water. If a fishing or recreational boat has been in infested waters for less than one day, it could be carrying zebra mussels.

Eichner said they are quite prolific. "A female can release up to one million eggs each season, so transporting just one zebra mussel can spell trouble for western waters and your boat."

Zebra mussels were introduced to the Great Lakes in 1986 in ship ballast water. They have spread to at least 20 states and two Canadian Provinces.

Eichner said Julesburg Reservoir is just too close for comfort to Nebraska waters, including Lake McConaughy. "We get a lot of Colorado boaters, and it would be very easy for adult mussels to hitch a ride on a boat hull, or for larvae to stow away in bilge and live wells for a ride into Nebraska." Julesburg Reservoir is less than 50 miles from Lake McConaughy and is on the South Platte River drainage.

Eichner said it is critical that anglers realize that these exotic mussels can cause severe harm to the fishery as well as to personal boating equipment. Anglers should thoroughly inspect their boats, motors and trailers for the presence of zebra mussels. They should drain, dry and even wash off boats and trailers before moving from one lake to another.

Zebra mussels produce young that are too small to see with the naked eye, but newly settled young feel like fine sandpaper on smooth boat hulls. As they grow, they can be seen on boat hulls, especially around the trim tabs, transducers, along keels and on lower units and propellers.
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1  Developing a Nebraska Invasive Species Advisory Council

In February 2008, a series of speakers representing a variety of agencies, organizations, and public interests that are actively involved in invasive species management projects presented their agency’s greatest challenges in invasive species management. Recommendations from these stakeholders included improving cooperation and information sharing, the need for formalized state-level coordination, developing legislative and policy proposals, establishing proactive response actions to reduce invasive species impact, creating prevention and early detection systems-including risk assessment, prediction maps, and monitoring networks, incorporating adaptive management into current management practices, and developing a focus on public education and outreach. We feel that a Nebraska Invasive Species Advisory Council will fill this role.

Read more about the Nebraska Invasive Species Council.

To prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species' or human health, and for other purposes.

Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations establishing a process for assessing the risk of all nonnative wildlife species proposed for importation into the United States, other than those included in a list of approved species issued under this Act. Sets forth factors that must be considered, including the identity of the organism to the species level, the native range of the species, whether the species has caused harm to the economy, the environment, or other animal species or human health in similar ecosystems, and the likelihood of establishment or spread of the species in the United States.

Provides procedures for issuance and expansion of a list of nonnative wildlife species approved for importation and a list of nonnative wildlife species that are prohibited.

Establishes prohibitions on: (1) importation or transportation between states of nonnative species that are not included in the list of approved species; (2) permit violations; and (3) possession, purchase, sale, barter, release, or breeding of such species.

Learn more about H.R. 669.

Emerald ash borer is one step closer to Nebraska as state forestry experts confirm it in both Missouri and Wisconsin.

Emerald ash borer is a non-native, or invasive, insect that attacks and kills all native ash species, including white, green, black and autumn purple."About three years ago we started to realize that EAB would eventually be a problem in Nebraska," says Mark Harrell, Nebraska Forest Service forest health program leader.

Read more about Emerald Ash Borer and things threatening our trees.

Lincoln Journal Star: Wednesday, Apr 08, 2009 - 07:13:00 am CDT

A wild pig killed in the Genoa area has tested positive for pseudorabies, and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture is warning producers in the area to watch for symptoms.

Pseudorabies is a contagious viral disease that mostly affects swine, although cattle, sheep, dogs and cats also can be infected. The disease isn’t considered a threat to humans.

Read more here.

Posted: 10:05 AM Feb 27, 2009

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission removed 15 feral pigs from Harlan County Reservoir Feb. 24 and 25 to keep them from becoming a threat to domestic and wild animals, crops and wildlife habitat, according to Sam Wilson, the Commission’s nongame mammal and furbearer specialist.

“We believe the hunt was very successful and this year’s lower number (of feral pigs killed) is a good indication of how successful we were last year,” Wilson said. In 2008, a total of 69 feral pigs were killed in the Harlan County Reservoir area.

Wilson said the pigs will be tested for disease – pseudorabies, swine brucellosis and classical swine fever. “The test results will be available in a few weeks,” he said.

“We are very interested in receiving reports from turkey hunters and others of any observations of wild pigs or their sign,” Wilson said. He said observations should be reported to him at (402) 471-5174 

On February 17, President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to stimulate the economy by creating jobs and building infrastructure.

The stimulus package includes more than $3 billion for agencies and programs that will directly affect natural resources. The ARRA spending mandates are very broad and include concepts such as habitat restoration, watershed improvement, forest health protection, and wildland fire management that may allow funding to flow toward invasive plant management.

Information about individual state and federal ARRA programs, how the dollars are being allocated and progress toward goals can be found at http://www.recovery.gov/.

Excerpt from the Center for Invasive Plant Management Newsletter.

A review by Marcel Rejmánek. University of California, Davis, mrejmanek@ucdavis.edu.

Plant invasions: Human perception, ecological impacts and management. Edited by B Tokarska-Guzik, JH Brock, G Brundu, L Child, CC Daehler, and P Pyšek. 2008.

Over the last two decades, plant invasions have become a subject of an increasing number of national and international meetings. This volume presents key contributions from the 8th International Conferences on the Ecology and Management of Alien Plant Invasions (EMAPi) held at the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland, in 2005. The volume is divided into four sections: 1 – Human perception and role in biological invasions (four chapters), 2 – Biology, ecology and distribution of invasive species (seven chapters), 3 – Invasibility of habitats and impacts of invasive species (12 chapters), 4 – Control and management (four chapters). Continue reading book review.

Excerpt from the Center for Invasive Plant Management Newsletter.

The Invasive Plant Resource Guide is a collection of materials designed to support your invasive plant management and education efforts. Whether you are a public lands manager, a member of a cooperative weed management area, or a local weed worker, the materials in this book will provide you with a broad perspective on the invasive species problem, as well as much practical information.

Fact sheets, booklets, and handbooks developed by many agencies and organizations make up the Resource Guide. Knowledge from these resources can be shared with stakeholders in building community support, which is essential to preventing and managing plant invasions, and to sustaining the ecological integrity and economic value of the lands that we depend upon.

Check it out here.

Awareness and outreach efforts are crucial to engaging a broader audience in invasive plant issues. Across the country, cooperative weed management areas (CWMAs) are reaching out to the public in various ways.

Four presentations highlighted awareness and outreach programs at the "People-Powered Projects" national CWMA conference held in 2008. The include evaluating your program, user-friendly websites, citizen's against noxious weeds invading the north, and outreach and education with the green industry.

These 15- to 20-minute PowerPoint presentations with audio are available to view online.

The following journal articles are highlighted as useful resources for land managers who want to expand their knowledge of current research and applications to invasive plant management.

A bioeconomic model of cattle stocking on rangeland threatened by invasive plants and nitrogen deposition. David Finnoff, Aaron Strong, and John Tschirhart. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 2008. 90: p1074.

Integrating Flea Beetles (Aphthona spp.) with Herbicide and Grasses for Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula) Management. Ankush Joshi. Weed Technology. 2008. 22: p523.

Leafy Spurge Suppression by Flea Beetles in the Little Missouri Drainage Basin, USA. Luke W. Samuel, Donald R. Kirby, Jack E. Norland, and Gerald L. Anderson. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 2008. 61:437-443.

Soil modification by invasive plants: effects on native and invasive species of mixed-grass prairies. Nicholas R. Jordan, Diane L. Larson, and Sheri C. Huerd. 2008. Biological Invasions.10:177-190.

Read more...

Taken from the Center for Invasive Plant Management Newsletter.

Land managers may benefit from spending more time monitoring nonindigenous invasive plants to identify those populations that pose the greatest threat, according to an article in the March 2009 issue of Invasive Plant Science and Management.

The article, ‘The Rationale for Monitoring Invasive Plant Populations as a Crucial Step for Management,’ relates results from a model simulation of four plant management strategies involving monitoring and early detection/rapid response (EDRR). Authors Bruce D. Maxwell, Erik Lehnhoff, and Lisa J. Rew of Montana State University compare the strategies in terms of the benefits and tradeoffs of utilizing limited resources on monitoring versus management to achieve population control. The authors suggest that efficient techniques to identify and evaluate source populations could improve invasive plant management compared to the standard approach of managing roadside populations. 

Invasive Plant Science and Management is a publication of the Weed Science Society of America. Abstracts and articles from the current issue, including the article above, can be accessed at http://www.wssa.net/WSSA/Pubs/IPSM.htm. A subscription is required to view the full article.

The 2009 Tamarisk and Russian Olive Research Conference was held in Reno, NV on February 18 and 19. There were a number of excellent presentations covering several topics related to these two invasive plant species. Presentations can soon be found online. Topics included:

1. Biological control of tamarisk using leaf beetles (Diorhabda elongata)
2. Biocontrol alters litter chemistry and short-term decomposition in a tamarisk-invaded ecosystem
3. Comparative water use by native and non-native riparian species on western U.S. rivers
4. Erosional consequence of tamarisk control
5. Tamarix as habitat for birds: implications for riparian restoration in the southwestern United States
6. Biocontrol of tamarisk in the western United States: an event underway with significant ecological and societal implications
7. Riparian plant establishment limited by tamarisk insect herbivore interactions

The mountain pine beetle, dendroctonus ponderosae, is native to the forests of western North America.

Mountain pine beetles, as those involved in forestry know, have been around for a long time but haven’t devastated forests the way they have in recent years.

According to Colorado State University researchers, mountain pine beetles – as their name suggests – develop in pines, most commonly ponderosa, lodgepole, scotch and limber pine. Bristlecone and pinon pine are less commonly attacked. During early stages of an outbreak, attacks are limited chiefly to trees under stress from injury, poor site conditions, fire damage, overcrowding, root disease or old age. However, as beetle populations increase, mountain pine beetle attacks may consume almost all large trees in the infested area. Colorado is expecting to lose 90 percent of its lodgepole pines in the next five years.

Read more here.

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seven people have been diagnosed with a new kind of swine flu in California and Texas, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.

All seven people have recovered but the virus itself is a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans, the CDC said.

Read more here.

With an interest in year-round advocacy for invasive plant issues at the national level, a diverse group of individuals and organizations convened last fall to form the Healthy Habitats Coalition (HHC).

The goal of HHC is to secure federal funding and enact legislation to protect the nation's lands and waters from the harmful economic and environmental impacts of invasive species. Recently HHC has advocated funding for invasive species management to create "green" jobs for the nation, confident that such funding can support existing successful projects, put people to work, and be good for the economy over the long term.

Read more...

Platte Valley Sierra Club Group will be partnering again this year with Western Nebraska Resources Council to host a June service outing.  The outing this year will be held June 12th-14th.  We will be staying at Smith Falls State Park campgrounds.  Our objective will be to enhance the rare aspen stands chances of survival, by eliminating deadly invasive competition. Our agenda includes a canoe trip on Sunday in the Niobrara River [free for volunteers].  

For more information please contact Bruce at buffalobruce1@gmail.com. Student travel funds may be available.

USDA and EPA have released a new joint CSREES/EPA Agriculture and Ecosystem Services request for applications. You can find information on the CSREES funding opportunities page on the website by clicking here.

Check out the first edition of Double Trouble, a regular news bulletin published by the Invasive Species Council to raise awareness about the dangers posed by weeds and pest animals to Australia’s natural environment under climate change.

While it is obvious climate change will create a world of many losers, there will be winners as well. Native species killed or stressed by climate change will all too often be replaced by weeds and feral animals.

Double Trouble will help us highlight current threats and future dangers posed by invasive species to Australia’s natural environment in a warmer, weedier world.

From: 'Science for Environment Policy', Issue 135: A service from the

European Commission

Almost all respondents to a stakeholder survey on invasive alien species

(IAS) agreed that eradicating species with negative impacts is necessary. However, perceptions of what the main impacts and benefits of IAS are vary according to the stakeholders questioned. Such insights into social perceptions of wildlife can help inform effective conservation programmes.

Research into IAS tends to focus on ecological aspects. However, the

authors of this study argue that the social and economic aspects also

need to be considered when designing strategies to tackle IAS

The results suggest that the more recently that the species was introduced, the more recognizable it is as a non-native species. Furthermore, different stakeholder groups were found to differ in their degree of knowledge, social perceptions, attitudes and willingness to  pay for IAS eradication.

See project examples here.