Invading our news: Invasive species news blog, Update 3

Here is the final installment in the three-week blog series, Invading Our News. Enjoy!

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Rorymizen, Flickr user (CC: BY, NC)

What could be better than goats?

Water buffalo! Similar to the goats in the New York City park, Brandywine Creek State Park in Delaware has brought in two river water buffalos to graze and stomp out vegetation in a wetland. They will be used to help decrease the number of invasive plants in the nature center by eating them and crushing their roots under their weight, according to Rob Line, manager of the environmental stewardship program at the Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation.

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The war on nutria

riko.jennrich, Flickr (CC: BY, NC)

They look so cute with their beady little eyes and soft fur, but don’t let the adorable appearance of the nutria fool you. Nutria consume a quarter of their body weight daily by eating the tender roots of marsh grasses (which then, as you would expect, greatly harms the marsh ecosystem). A 2004 study found that, if left unchecked, nutria damage to the Chesapeake Bay area could cost Maryland around $37 million each year (in lost economic activity). Expensive eradication efforts have been implemented, but they all seem to fall short.

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Desired invasive

USFWS Pacific (CC: BY)

Rainbow trout have been bred and distributed throughout rivers of the world for more than a century because it is a robust sport fish. We have just become rainbow trout spreading experts. These days, federal and state agencies in the US release about two billion rainbow trout each year into rivers everywhere. Trout are now being used as bait to lure anglers – but how could the purposeful placement of these invasive species harm our environment?

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Predator in paradise

Pitt Numa (CC: BY, ND)

Mongoose, non-native mammal, has moved into Hawaii. As the mongoose spread throughout the islands, the native bird populations have decreased. George Wallace of the American Bird Conservancy said, “Hawaii is the bird extinction capital of the world. The 50th state has a reputation as an island paradise, but I think that a lot of people don’t realize that through a long history of animal and plant introductions, Hawaii’s bird population has been decimated.”

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Luck of the Irish … or not

Palestrina55, Flickr user (CC: BY, NC, SA)

In Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, Irish moss harvest has been about five percent of what it was a decade ago. Irish moss (a seaweed, not a moss) is used to make a thickening agent to use in food processing. The decline in Irish moss on PEI is being blamed on invasive seaweed called fucellaria that chokes out Irish moss beds. So, why not just sell the fucellaria? It is worth only half of what the Irish moss is worth, so its presence is devastating to the PEI economy.

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They’re here!

Asian Carp Reg. Coord. Committee (CC: BY)

Cue trumpet call. Though not news, this video is a great introduction to invasive species that originally aired on CBS Sunday Morning. It discusses invasive species throughout the United States and some of the amazing species that have invaded our nation. It gives any budding citizen scientists or students an understanding of invasive species.