Fri Feb 11 2005 - 15:52:06 PST

Contents
1. Information on Meeting #5 and Registration!!!
2. WIMS at last!!!
3. Eastern Invasives on the ISI web site
4. A new defoliating moth detected

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1. Information on Meeting #5 and Registration!!!
From: Beth Bockoven

In a separate email, you have been sent a registration update regarding the
exciting, upcoming meeting Eastern Invasives Management Network Workshop #5.
It included a statement of purpose about the meeting as well as a tentative
agendum. If you had trouble with the email attachment, the file can be
downloaded from:
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/listarch02/workshop5-info.doc (MS Word)
-or-
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/listarch02/workshop5-info.pdf (Acrobat format)

Since some of you have been dragging your feet (and you know who you are),
the registration date has been extended to 28 February. But after that, you
are out in the cold.
**In the spirit of disclosure, it should be noted that Barry Rice wrote this
email, based on Beth's more politely worded email.

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2. WIMS at last!!!
From: Mandy Tu

Remember the very cool handheld product that we have talked about at
previous Eastern Invasives workshops? Remember how frustrating it was that
we couldn't provide the product, after dangling it in front of you? Be
frustrated no more, because it is finally available!!!!
TNC's Invasive Species Initiative, in collaboration with several awesome
partners, is proud to finally make available to all invasive species
enthusiasts and natural resource managers the much-desired and
much-anticipated Weed Information Management System (WIMS-since everyone
needs a cool acronym)!! Do you struggle to keep track of all of your weed
locations, inventory and monitoring data? Do you have trouble remembering
how you treated a certain patch of weeds three years ago? Would you like
assistance compiling summary reports on your weed situation? How about
creating weed maps? Do you still create weed maps by drawing them on paper?
Do you want to be able to instantly share your weed data with partners? If
you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, woo hoo...do we have an
application system for you!!
Whether you would like to use WIMS, or just look at and copy some of what we
have created, point your browser to the following url to learn more about
WIMS!!!
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/wims.html

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3. Eastern Invasives on the ISI web site
From: Barry Rice (bamrice(at)ucdavis.edu)

For several years, the Eastern Invasives network's internet presence network
was housed at www.tnc-ecomanagement.org. Unfortunately, Wendy Fulks (who
oversaw that domain) has moved to other projects. So with her permission I
have transferred the core site content to the shiny and well-maintained ISI
web site. I'm looking forward to adding exciting new content from Workshop
#5! Thanks, Wendy, for your long support of our network!
See the new Eastern Invasives web site at:
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/networks.html

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4. A new defoliating moth detected
From: Frank Lowenstein

At a recent USDA meeting, Joe Elkinton (U Mass) gave a talk on the winter
moth (Operophtera brumata), a new forest pest detected in coastal
Massachusetts (around Plymouth). Winter moths feed on virtually any
deciduous woody tree or shrub. The eggs hatch at bud break, defoliate the
tree or shrub and complete their feeding in three weeks. No native
parasitoids or diseases are affecting the moth. Repeated defoliation over
several years is likely to produce high tree/shrub mortality. The moth could
also affect native lepidopterans by reducing food supply and competing for
food--and that's not even considering the possible community-level impacts!
Good news: The females don't fly, so spread should be slow. Also, there is a
biocontrol agent that has been used to successfully control the beast in two
locations in Canada.
Bad news: The biocontrol agent is so successful that nobody in Canada is
rearing populations anymore. Elkinton spent four days shaking down trees in
Nova Scotia (literally) and found only 400 winter moth larvae. From those
he was able to extract 10 of the biocontrol organisms to use as the
foundation of a rearing program. He estimates at least 5 years until
biocontrol; possibly much longer. Also, non-target impacts on the fauna in
the USA may need to be evaluated.
**Note from listmaster Barry---this message was originally posted in the
general ISI listserve. As a result of that, Marilyn Jordan TNC-NY) emailed me news that there is at least one species of look-alike,
native moth (e.g. Alsophila pometaria) on Long Island, New York. Just a
little warning in case you find something flying around that looks
suspicious.