Fri May 02 2008 - 16:54:05 PDT

Contents
1. Statewide invasive species outreach campaign (Global, Planet Earth)
2. Screening tool study (Global, Planet Earth)
3. Lepidium latifolium response to fire, again (Wisconsin, USA)
4. Boy Scout tamarisk removal (Utah, USA)
5. Thumbnail review of CartoPac Invasive Species Mapping (Global, Planet Earth)
6. Idaho Hydrilla update (Idaho, USA)
7. Literature Reviews (Global, Planet Earth)
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1. Statewide invasive species outreach campaign (Global, Planet Earth)
From: Mandy Tu (imtu(at)tnc.org)
 
Are you working in a state/province or country that is considering doing a
large-scale education and outreach campaign on invasive species? Here in
Oregon, we are just kicking-off a statewide "Stop the Invasion" campaign.
Major components of this campaign include:
 
- A one-hour TV documentary "The Silent Invasion" produced by our state
Public Broadcasting Station (with lots of advertising, lead-ins, tie-in with
radio etc.)
- Online identification quick guides for the most common invaders
- An online invasive species reporting hotline for the public
- A gardening booklet highlighting invasives to avoid and suitable native
and non-native (but non-invasive) planting alternatives, and
- Organized volunteer opportunities around the state
 
We have collected pre-campaign survey data and will also be collecting
post-documentary data. Preliminary results indicate that roughly 10% of all
households in the state have at least watched the TV documentary. Our
partners have also mentioned that other PBS stations can easily take this TV
documentary, reshoot one or more segments, and make it entirely applicable
for your region/state too!
 
If you would like further information about this campaign, or would like to
evaluate any of the products generated through this campaign, contact me or
go to: http://www.opb.org/silentinvasion
 
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2. Screening tool study (Global, Planet Earth)
From: Barry Rice (bamrice(at)ucdavis.edu)
 
TNC's Doria Gordon recently copublished an article on her work comparing the
accuracy of the Australian plant screening tool across all the geographies
in which it has now been tested. Across all the studies, the most invasive
plant species were correctly identified 90% of the time. Non-invaders were
correctly identified over 70% of the time. This tool could be incorporated
into the US plant quarantine law, which is currently being revised by USDA.
 
Doria even got time on KCBS radio to talk about this study:
http://www.kcbs.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=1601375
 
See Gordon, D.R., Onderdonk, D.A., Fox, A.M., and Stocker, R.K. 2008.
Diversity and Distributions. 14: 234-242, or the pdf here:
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/temp/gordonetal2008.pdf
 
Press Release:
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/products/library/dgordon-release.doc
 
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3. Lepidium latifolium response to fire, again (Wisconsin, USA)
From: Mark Renz (mrenz(at)wisc.edu)

I saw the question about burning pepperweed in the previous listserve.
While burning alones doesn't appear to damage populations, this provides an
excellent opportunity for management. My work near Davis, CA, and farther
north showed that the best time to treat with herbicides was just prior to
plants flowering. Results have shown reduced control when plants were
treated as rosettes in the spring, but the results were pretty variable
depending on the herbicide used. As I recall telar (chlorsulfuron)
treatments were much better than glyphosate at this timing. I would like to
point out that ALL TREATMENTS had better results if they were treated later
when plants were flowering. I am not sure how much the burn will change
these results, but would guess that they won't change things much at all.
 
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4. Boy Scout tamarisk removal (Utah, USA)
From: Steven Dewey (steved(at)ext.usu.edu)
 
From June 16 - 20 of this year approximately 1000 Boy Scouts and their
leaders from all across the U.S. are coming to Utah to engage in a week-long
service project to control saltcedar. The work will take place in Buckhorn
Draw in the San Rafael Swell region of central Utah. The boys will help cut
and haul away the saltcedar trees while adults treat the cut stumps with
herbicide. There also will be a strong educational component blended into
the project.
 
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5. Thumbnail review of CartoPac Invasive Species Mapping (Global, Planet Earth)
From: Mandy Tu (imtu(at)tnc.org)
 
Some of you may have been passed-along this notice about Invasive Weed
Mapping from a company (Spatial Data Technologies, Inc.) in Colorado. I
attended one of their "webinars" yesterday on their new CartoPac Solutions
for weed mapping. Here is a summary from what I learned, in comparison to
WIMS.
 
Overall, the data fields for collecting field weed data are all very similar
to those currently in WIMS (since they are both based on the NAWMA
standards), but WIMS has many more optional data fields, detailed data
collection information (especially for weed patch polygons and treatment
information), etc. The CartoPac allows the user to either maintain their
own data on their own computer or network, or in most cases data is stored
on their internal server, where you can readily access your own data online
(via a password). They have reports (similar to those produced in WIMS),
again with less options, can produce maps using Google Earth, and can
produce outputs in Excel, XML, etc. for easy data sharing.
 
CartoPac is really trying to build on the strength and simplicity-of-use of
their handhelds. The handheld units do not use ArcPad (from ESRI), but
their own programmed software developed to collect data points and polygons,
and they have made their own customized forms. Pull-down lists (plant list,
herbicide list) are customizable. In a nutshell:
 
Pros:
- Handheld data collection appears to be easier and simpler on the CartoPac
vs. WIMS using ArcPad
- Full-time available technical support, instant upgrades with software,
etc.
- Online tutorials available
- No need for other software (such as MS Access, ArcPad, etc.)
 
Cons:
- Data currently collected in CartoPac may not be detailed enough for
assessing change over time
- Currently no way to organize data by "Management Area" - mostly by
political boundaries (county, etc.)
- Need to purchase hardware (Pocket PC, Trimble); no optional paper forms
with a $100 GPS unit
- Cost - $2,400 per user (for instance, per County Weed Program) per year,
but includes all of the (mostly online) training and support. Prices may be
negotiable if used with a group of users (such as with a CWMA, for each user
organization).
 
See the web site at:
http://cartopac.com/Solutions/InvasiveSpeciesMapping/index.html
 
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6. Idaho Hydrilla update (Idaho, USA)
From: Tom Woolf (twoolf(a)agri.idaho.gov)
 
[Heavily edited by Barry Rice]
 
In December, 2007 Tom Woolf at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture
identified Hydrilla verticillata along approximately 7 miles of the Bruneau
river and in two irrigation ditch systems in Southwest Idaho. The plant is
in the vicinity of the recovery area for the endangered Bruneau Hot
Springsnail (Pyrgulopsis bruneauensis). Following two days of hand-pulling
by volunteers from ISDA, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho
Association of Soil Conservation Districts, United States Department of
Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, US Fish and
Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Mountain Home Air
Force base it became clear that physical removal alone was not the answer.
 
The USFWS agreed to conduct a Bruneau hot springsnail survey before and
after an herbicide treatment to verify that snails were not impacted by the
treatment. On February 25th the river was treated with a diquat (trade name
Reward) injection. Following treatment, the USFWS initial survey results
suggest snail numbers were not adversely impacted by the herbicide
treatment.
 
The herbicide treatment reduced the living biomass by approximately 50% in
the first 2 miles of river below the injection site. The treatment
effectively killed the upper portion of the plants, removing the portion of
the plant that presents the highest risk for fragmentation and
re-infestation. In many cases the lower portion of the hydrilla plants
still remain and will require treatment following spring runoff. Overall the
treatment was a success and the threat of plant fragments moving downstream
has been significantly reduced. An even greater achievement is the level of
cooperation and collaboration that has come from all of the parties involved
in this project.
 
When water levels drop in the summer, a thorough survey will be conducted in
the CJ Strike Reservoir and in the Bruneau River delta area downstream.
IDFG and Idaho Power have agreed to assist in this effort. Identified
infestations will be controlled in the summer with volunteer hand pulling,
diver assisted suction dredging, and spot herbicide treatment if possible.
Following the irrigation season, another river diquat injection may be
conducted to control any remaining hydrilla plants.
 
It will take years of treatment of achieve eradication of this population.
 
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7. Literature Reviews (Global, Planet Earth)
From: John Randall (jarandall(at)ucdavis.edu)
 
Cohen, J., Mirotchnick, N., and Leung, B. 2007. Thousands introduced
annually: the aquarium pathway for non-indigenous plants to the St. Lawrence
Seaway. Front. Ecol. Environ.5(10):528-532.

The authors calculated numbers of non-native aquarium plants released to the
St Lawrence Seaway watershed annually in the Montreal, Canada. They found
that over 78,000 aquarium plants from 138 species were sold in Montreal each
year and calculated that over 3,000 of these were released to the St
Lawrence Seaway based on surveys of aquarium stores and customers. Two of
the most commonly released species are recognized invaders: Egeria densa and
Cabomba caroliniana with estimated releases of 145 and 116 individual
plants respectively. The study used a step-by-step process to ascertain the
numbers of invasive organisms released in a given area over a given time
(=propagule pressure) which could be used to ascertain propagule pressures
for other types of organisms and other pathways elsewhere around the world.
This information could be extremely useful in developing strategies to close
the most important invasion pathways.

Kodric-Brown, A., and Brown, J.H. 2007. Native fishes, exotic mammals, and
the conservation of desert springs. Front. Ecol. Environ. 5(10)549-553.

Interesting food for thought about conservation of desert spring
biodiversity in North America and Australia. The authors document the
results of fencing springs and excluding introduced grazers at Ash Meadows,
Nevada and Dalhousie Springs, South Australia. They found that native fish
decreases or disappearances were significantly greater in treated springs
than in untreated "controls" and concluded that some restoration of the
impacts of these grazers is necessary to restore desert spring habitat and
preserve native spring animals. They speculate that the disturbance by the
introduced mammals mimicked disturbance by now-extinct mega-herbivores which
had been a vital factor in the ecology and structuring of these communities.

Williams, J.W. and S.T. Jackson. 2007. Novel climates, no-analog
communities, and ecological surprises. Front. Ecol. Environ. 5(9): 475-482.

Reading the paper I noticed a potential interaction between effects of
climate change and invasive species threats that the authors do not explore
but which could be a very nasty "ecological surprise" of great importance to
the future structure of many North American forest communities. The
authors' primary focus is on no-analog biological communities (communities
with species compositions unlike any found on earth today) which occurred
commonly in the past and the likelihood that new ones will develop as
climate change proceeds in the future. The no-analog communities of the
past contained combinations of species not found growing together naturally
anywhere today and some were dominated by species that play relatively minor
roles at present. They were linked to the "no-analog climates" of past
ice-ages and de-glaciations, which were characterized by greater seasonality
of temperature. Many models predict that greater seasonality will also
characterize many climates of the future in North America and other parts of
the world. The authors point to the example of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.)
which pollen studies indicate were more abundant in forest communities of
eastern North America that formed under the more seasonal climates of the
ice-ages and the periods of de-glaciation that followed. Studies also
indicate that ash trees thrive under climates with greater seasonality of
temperature (greater differences between hottest and coldest months; see
Figure 2) and the authors note that ash species appear to be "poised to
expand into climates more seasonal than any found at present" (see Figure
3). They fail to note, however, that the abundance of ash trees is
plummeting in areas of eastern North America that have been invaded by the
emerald ash borer. This non-native insect was first detected in North
America in 2002 and has already spread to 7 US states (IL, IN, OH, MI, PA,
WV & MD) and 1 Canadian province (ON) and killed 20-35 million ash trees
(see http://www.emeraldashborer.info/). Unfortunately all North American ash
species appear to be susceptible, and little or no evidence of resistance
has been observed in any of them. Thus, an invasive species may preclude
any response to climate change by a group of species that might otherwise be
expected to play an important and perhaps dominant role in no-analog forest
communities of the future.