Week of November 11, 2007

Updated November 15, 2007

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New York: Migratory Bird Die-Off in Great Lakes Linked to Invasive Species

More than 100 dead loons and other migratory birds have washed up on Great Lakes shores in the past week, prompting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to suspect another botulism-poisoning episode linked to the spread of invasive species. DEC is investigating the die-off and, although all results are not complete yet, preliminary evidence closely matches die-offs related to Type E botulism that have occurred every year on Lake Erie since 2000 and Lake Ontario since 2002, during fall migration, according to state Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone. Those incidents are tied to two invasive species consumed by birds during migration stopovers: the quagga mussel and a fish called the round goby. Loons especially feed on the round goby. As the round gobies have proliferated in recent years, particularly in Eastern Lake Ontario, cases of botulism poisoning have increased, said David Adams, a DEC waterbird specialist. Full Article

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Tunicates: Making Mussel Harvesting Increasingly Risky, Say Workers
CBC News

Tunicates, an invasive species cutting into the profits of mussel farmers on Prince Edward Island, Canada, are also increasing risks for the people harvesting them, say workers in the industry. The jelly-like tunicate cling to mussel lines, competing for food, slowing the growth of the shellfish, and making them more difficult to harvest. Full Article

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Asian Long-Horned Beetle: Additions to Quarantined Areas

Federal Register: Nov 5, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 213) AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as final rule.

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Opinion: Forget the Word "Invasive"

Saturday, November 10, 2007, Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Question: I have heard that Japanese stiltgrass is an invasive plant. What should I do to get rid of it?
Answer: The war on "invasives," and even using the word, has been a death knell to any plant pointed out and labeled in this botanical witch-hunt. The label itself is so nonspecific that it seems ludicrous to me that any person who considers themselves a scientist should ever nod their heads in agreement when yet another plant is added to the list... Full Article

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Job: Temporary Research Assistant (Biological Control), Connecticut US

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Japanese Knotweed: Allergies in Binghampton, NY

The whole time the darned stuff stays in bloom, my voice is barely up to speaking at all -- a great hardship to me. Along with that I find great difficulty breathing. I must alter my routes to necessary destinations to avoid exposure to the stuff, which can be fairly simple some years, but nearly impossible when it is flourishing everywhere, as it is now. My ears ache and I can't hear through them. My chest is congested along with my head. Gums are sore; teeth seem to be floating. Full Article

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BetterWorld Telecom Volunteers Control Invasives

Late last week, most of the BetterWorld DC-area team was out in the George Washington National Parway again helping The Nature Conservancy cut back the invasive Amur bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). Full Article

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