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Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction
"Invasive species have two main characteristics: they are non-native (exotic/alien) to the ecosystem that they occupy, and their existence in that ecosystem causes or is likely to cause harm to the economy, environment, or human health. If left unchecked, invasive species can threaten native species, biodiversity, ecosystem services, recreation, water resources, agricultural and forest production, cultural resources, economies and property values, public safety, and infrastructure."
According to a report from The Weather Channel, invasives may be driving as much as 60% of extinctions, while threatening our food supplies, spreading diseas, and costing $423 billion in costly damages.
What To Do About Invasives
What To Do About Invasives
Prevention Is Better Than Reaction
Prevention Is Better Than Reaction
Once an invasive species is loose and reproducing in an ecosystem, it can be more-or-less impossible to reverse the problem. Large continents and difficult terrains can be the hardest to work in, however some islands have had massive success with catching and killing off invasives such as rats who's egg-eating habits put many island birds at risk of extinction.
Prevention can be done using sensible laws and enforcement policies (for example requiring plant nurseries to sell natives, instead of invasive species). Such acts can help protect and even boost the health of our economies and environment.
Example of Preventative Programs
Example of Preventative Programs
Don'tMoveFireWood "Transporting firewood long distances can spread harmful forest pests. ... U.S. Customs and Border Protection encourages campers to burn firewood where you obtain it, and avoid moving unburned firewood." This resource includes a Firewood Map and page with various firewood finding options.
Exotic Pet Amnesty Program 🐍 🦎 🦧 "is an effort to reduce the number of nonnative pets released into the wild. Florida residents in possession of nonnative pet species face no legal penalties (regardless of the regulatory status of their pet) and do not pay any fees to surrender their pet through the program. Owners may surrender nonnative pets for any reason at any time. The FWC will facilitate the adoption process and make every effort to place the nonnative pet with an approved adopter."
Management
Management
In some cases, you can simply pull out invasive weeds, and put them through a chipper (this may help some invasives spread), into a compost (watch out for seeds!), a burn pile (which contributes to air pollution), and some may be appropriate for turning into plant fertilizer.
In some cases invasives can be fed to animals or even eaten by humans.
Recipes for Invasives
Recipes for Invasives
Eat The Invaders This resource lists problematic invaders, and offers information like where the originated, and where they are considered invasive to help you decide if they need to be removed, as well as recipe suggestions. Most are animals, but there are also plants and even seaweed!
Words of Caution!
Words of Caution!
One drawback to finding uses for invasives is that it might promote people to retain or even purposeful raise/farm the invasives if they become too useful or popular.
It's also very important to identify a species correctly before handling, harming, or consuming it. Some species (especially plants and fungi!) may be poisonous, but look almost exactly like a non-deadly counterpart.
When extracting plants, be careful to remove as much root as possible, since aggressive plants can easily come back from even tiny root remnants.
Similarly it is best to destroy plants before they can seed. Sometimes handling the plant is enough help the seeds explode everywhere.
Some species such as hogweed are particularly dangerous. Causing serious pain, and dangerous sensitivity to sunlight.
Hogweed is One of Canada's Most Dangerous Plants, Here's What You Should Know
2:42 minute video explains that "If you touch the sap of giant hogweed, it could lead to 3rd-degree burns. That's why The Weather Network's Mark Robinson dons a hazmat suit to learn about how to remove Canada's most noxious weed."
Hogweed grows along trails or near water, and looks similar to Queen Ann's Lace.
Terrestrial Plants
Terrestrial Plants
"The term "weed" means different things to different people. In the broadest sense, it is any plant growing where it is not wanted. Weeds can be native or non-native, invasive or non invasive, and noxious or not noxious. Legally, a noxious weed is any plant designated by a Federal, State or county government as injurious to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife or property. (Sheley, Petroff, and Borman,1999) A noxious weed is also commonly defined as a plant that grows out of place and is "competitive, persistent, and pernicious." (James, et al, 1991)." - US Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management
The Many Impacts of Invasive Plants
The Many Impacts of Invasive Plants
This section includes infographics and articles about the social, economic, and environmental benefits of tackling invasive species in Ethiopia.
Prevention: What you can do!
Prevention: What you can do!
1. Be on the lookout for invasive plants
1. Be on the lookout for invasive plants
Learn to identify noxious and invasive plants. Remove them from your property and report any infestations you may come across on public land to the local land manager. Avoid collecting plants you do not know and don’t grow them.
2. Keep yourself and your gear clean
2. Keep yourself and your gear clean
Clean all recreation gear, clothing and shoes before leaving an area to avoid inadvertently taking seeds along to the next campsite, river or town. Seeds and spores can hitchhike on muddy hiking boots, running shoes, backpacks, tents, recreational vehicles (OHV & snowmobiles), farm and garden equipment, boats and aircrafts. Do not camp in or hike through weed infested areas. Stay on designated trails.
Buy certified weed-free forage and mulch.
3. Don’t plant a pest!
3. Don’t plant a pest!
Landscape with native plants. Gardeners may be tempted to use beautiful plants that are terrible pests once they escape into the wild. If you see invasive plants sold in your local greenhouse, nursery, or pet store, inform the owner that the species is invasive and suggest they not sell the species.
Aquatic Plants
Aquatic Plants
Invasive aquatic plants can choke water ways and other forms of plant life. They disrupt ecosystems, replacing food and shelter that native animals are adapted to live along side. By removing invasive plants, we can prevent water quality issues, habitat disruption, and provide native plants a chance to regenerate.
Equipment
Equipment
Aquatic Weed Harvesters
Aquatic Weed Harvesters
"This Aquatic Weed Harvester can gather weeds and excessive amounts of trash in waterways of all sizes.
Cleantec Infra made the machine that functions similarly like an underwater lawnmower. Its conveyer belt lowers into the water and cuts, collects, and stores the trash/weeds until it needs to be discharged."
Bubble Curtains
Bubble Curtains
These can be used to capture plastic pollution including cigarettes, reduce or eliminate underwater noise pollution, and now we're learning they can also be used for aquatic weed control!
Bubble Curtains: A Brief Introduction
This 1:21 minute video shows the same alignment and capture set up that is used for plastic waste capture, can also work for aquatic weeds which snap off into small pieces and are spread around by boat movements.
Identify Invasives: Apps & Guides
Identify Invasives: Apps & Guides
The following include apps, local/regional guides, and some of the sites or apps also double as a way to report invasives, which may be important for scientists to track their progress through an area, or alert trained people who can come and safely handle the species in question.
Invasive Management Resources
Invasive Management Resources
Florida
Exotic Pet Amnesty Program 🐍 🦎 🦧 "is an effort to reduce the number of nonnative pets released into the wild. Florida residents in possession of nonnative pet species face no legal penalties (regardless of the regulatory status of their pet) and do not pay any fees to surrender their pet through the program. Owners may surrender nonnative pets for any reason at any time. The FWC will facilitate the adoption process and make every effort to place the nonnative pet with an approved adopter."
Solutions & Techniques
Solutions & Techniques
Tracking, Monitoring, & Reporting
Tracking, Monitoring, & Reporting
The best way to understand how invasives spread, is via tracking their movements and allowing the public to help report their presense. This way we can devise strategies that reduce impact on natives, both cost effectively and with respect to humans in the impacted area. For this we need all the data we can get, using updated info as feedback to determine each programs effectiveness, which can let us adjust programs and techniques as needed.
The following can be useful tools in this process. They can be used individually or together to improve accessibility and utility:
Apps for Tracking & Reporting
Apps for Tracking & Reporting
Apps can use trained AI to help identify invasives more quickly, while community members can aid with identifications and verification. Invasive species can be tagged in the system so that they are automatically reported to local authorities or other pertinent organizations.
Hotlines and E-mail Addresses
Hotlines and E-mail Addresses
These are useful option for concerned citizens needing to report in a hurry, not all of whom own fancy cellphones or download apps. Hotline workers can quickly calm and assure after false alarms, provide science-based information including solutions or descriptions of things that should definitely be reported in the future, or they can quickly make phone calls to the local branch who can handle things if there is in fact an emergency situation.
Citizen Science
Citizen Science
These programs can have very board subjects of focus - for example all mammals in a country, down to very specific topics like measuring light pollution levels or monitoring nest cameras for specific bird species. Some citizen science programs keep an eye out specifically for invasive species, while others might accidentally become invasion notification as problematic species move into an area.
BioBlitz
BioBlitz
A BioBlitz a very short ecological evaluation in a specific region. They often last only one to 3 days, but some might be an hour long (for example a school yard bioblitz with students only needs to last for one class period), while more challenging areas with less volunteers could last for an entire month, for example undersea bioblitz have needed this long because of dangerous conditions and limited personnel.
Alien CSI Bioblitz is a citizen science project to engage Europeans in invasive species monitoring. They also include Turkey.
Pamphlets & Posters
Pamphlets & Posters
I used to love looking at posters of organisms throughout my school years, I even have some on my walls today. Now that I'm active in rewilding my area, I like to travel with a few tools including a small bag of pamphlets and wildlife identification books for birds, bugs, and plants in my area.
Internet doesn't always work when you stray from home, but don't underestimate the joy of matching a first sighting with even a short blurb in a pamphlet or guidebook.
Consumption
Consumption
"Eat the Invader"
"Eat the Invader"
This solution can help communities struggling with food insecurity (sometimes caused by invasive species) to help create better food security by harnessing two benefits at once. For example invasive fish may be killin
Teach Wild Animals to Eat Invasive Species
Teach Wild Animals to Eat Invasive Species
Combating invasive species can be both extremely tricky and expensive, however nature can often do the work for free! One key thing that us humans often forget is that we are still a part of nature, and that other animals can be just as intelligent as us, if not more. Throughout history different species have worked together to survive, and we can still harness this phenomenon. With a little time an patience, we can teach our fellow Earthlings which invasive species are safe for them to eat (even if they don't recognize the species as potential "food" on their own), encouraging these wild animals to help take on the critical task of population control.
Resources
Resources
North America
North America
USA
USA
California
State Wildlife Action Plan "A plan for conserving California's wildlife resources while responding to environmental challenges"
Organizations
Organizations
International
International
The Rewilding Institute "We live for the day when Gray Wolves and Grizzly Bears have connected habitat from Mexico to Alaska, when Pumas have reclaimed their homelands East and West, when salmon and other migratory fish swim freely up and down our continents’ rivers, when the oceans are teeming with whales and sharks, and when all native species regain natural patterns of abundance and distribution."
Africa
Africa
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Woody Weeds "Between 2015 and 2021, the Woody Weeds project generated and shared knowledge on the impacts of woody invasive alien species in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, particularly on Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara, two of the worst invasive species worldwide. Together with local and national stakeholders, Woody Weeds developed management practices to slow down the further spread and reduce the density of these species."
Kenya
Kenya
Woody Weeds "Between 2015 and 2021, the Woody Weeds project generated and shared knowledge on the impacts of woody invasive alien species in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, particularly on Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara, two of the worst invasive species worldwide. Together with local and national stakeholders, Woody Weeds developed management practices to slow down the further spread and reduce the density of these species."
Tanzania
Tanzania
Woody Weeds "Between 2015 and 2021, the Woody Weeds project generated and shared knowledge on the impacts of woody invasive alien species in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, particularly on Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara, two of the worst invasive species worldwide. Together with local and national stakeholders, Woody Weeds developed management practices to slow down the further spread and reduce the density of these species."
Europe
Europe
Alien CSI Bioblitz "a citizen science project to engage society in invasive species monitoring. Welcome to the second edition of the Alien CSI Bioblitz, a 3-days event across Europe! Join and help us to detect as many invasive alien species as possible!"
North America
North America
USA
USA
The Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) "is a regional effort to develop and provide early detection and response resources for invasive species." "Our goal is to assist both experts and citizen scientists in the detection and identification of invasive species in support of successful management."
NEMESIS "Welcome to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's National Estuarine and Marine Exotic Species Information System (NEMESIS). Here you will find information on marine and estuarine invertebrates and algae introduced to the United States."
USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center "WARC conducts relevant and objective research, develops new approaches and technologies, and disseminates scientific information needed to understand, manage, conserve, and restore wetlands and other aquatic and coastal ecosystems and their associated plant and animal communities throughout the nation and the world."
Arizona
BLM Arizona Weeds and Invasives Program 🌵 "BLM Arizona has had a successful partnership with the Tucson Chapter of the Arizona Native Plant Society, working toward the control of buffelgrass in an area of the Ironwood Forest National Monument (IFNM) in an area where there is endangered cactus."
Oceana
Oceana
Australia
Australia
PestSmart "provides best practice information on how to plan, manage and improve pest animal control programs in Australia."
Maps
Maps
International
International
Fall Armyworm Portal 🐛 "Find all useful resources about fall armyworm"
Pacific Oysters
Pacific Oysters
This paper 🦪 lists different ways people have tried to combat this invader without damaging the ecosystems they have invaded, and recommends This source offers a native vs invasive map of Pacific Oysters.
Biocontrol Solutions for Invasives
Biocontrol Solutions for Invasives
BioProtection Portal "The CABI BioProtection Portal is the largest open access global database of biological plant protection products. Browse registered products..." These solutions include biological chemical solutions and organisms such as beneficial insects, fungi, etc.
Europe
Europe
Alien CSI Bioblitz "a citizen science project to engage society in invasive species monitoring. Welcome to the second edition of the Alien CSI Bioblitz, a 3-days event across Europe! Join and help us to detect as many invasive alien species as possible!"
North America
North America
USA
USA
Vermont
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Infested Area in Vermont (Interactive) "This map will be updated as new locations of EAB are detected in and near Vermont."
Oceana
Oceana
New Zealand
New Zealand
Wilding Watch 🌲"allows users to see for themselves the spread of wilding conifers across the country and upload their own images to help identify new invasions across New Zealand,"
Grants & Funding
Grants & Funding
North America
North America
USA
USA
NACDNET: Perimeter Fencing for Feral Swine Grant Program "On behalf of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), NACD will manage and administer a $7.5 million cost-share program that incentivizes landowners and operators to install or repair perimeter fencing to restrict feral swine access and impacts."
National Estuary Program Watersheds Grant Program "is a nationally competitive grants program designed to support projects that address urgent, emerging, and challenging issues threatening the well-being of estuaries within the 28 NEP boundary areas. This grant program funds projects aimed at addressing the following Congressionally-set priorities..."
Minnesota
MWMO: Community Grants "are available for short-term or small-scale water quality projects. The grant amount may not exceed $5,000. No matching funds are required."
South Carolina
Bradford Pear Bounty "Bradford pears are not native to the U.S. and have been widely planted in South Carolina for years. While the blossoms are pretty, they have a pungent odor and the trees often break during storms. Even worse, Bradford pear trees directly contribute to one of the worst invasive plant species in the Southeast – the Callery pear. This program will give homeowners the option to remove Bradford pears and replace them with native trees. Doing so will help reduce the amount of seed that can grow into Callery pears and will help diversify the urban landscape.
Property owners are encouraged to exchange up to five (5) Bradford Pear trees for an equal number of FREE, healthy, native, young replacement trees, a one-for-one replacement."
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