Invasive Species Collaborative at Virginia Tech

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Sylvan Kaufman

Started in 2016, the Invasive Species Collaborative at Virginia Tech has been growing quickly to add new faculty positions and promote new collaborations to understand invasive species impacts on society. Director Dr. Jacob Barney is now serving a two-year term on the Federal Invasive Species Advisory Council. On the plant side of invasive species, the Collaborative has faculty in Sociology, Plant and Environmental Sciences, Entomology, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Agricultural Leadership and Community Education, and Industrial and Systems Engineering. Sign up for their newsletter to learn about their great work!

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Water hyacinth used for counteracting algal blooms

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Sylvan Kaufman

In a controversial experiment in Florida, researchers are stocking King’s Bay with floating pens of water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) to reduce algal blooms.  Water hyacinth was removed from the bay beginning in the late 1950s, but Hydrilla replaced it and now algal blooms have become an issue in the lake.  Water hyacinth is good at removing pollutants from water and shading out algae.  In addition, manatees love it!

The pens also contain two other non-native species (called native in the original article), water lettuce and frog’s bit, considered less invasive by the some, but the article does not address whether these two plants would serve the same function as the water hyacinth.

Read more at the University of Washington’s Conservation web site and for updates see the Florida Springs Institute.

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Posted in Eichornia crassipes, Florida | 4 Comments

Updated Michigan guide to Phragmites control

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Sylvan Kaufman

Michigan’s A Guide to the Control and Management of Invasive Phragmites has recently been updated.  This 3rd edition has expanded content on how to distinguish between the native and European strain of Phragmites and new recommendations on treatment strategies.

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Forest Fragments in Managed Ecosystems Study – Invasive plant habitat projects

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Sylvan Kaufman

At the Delaware Invasive Species Conference this week two Delaware researchers presented some preliminary findings from research done through the FRAME long-term ecosystem study in northern Delaware.  Ph.D. candidate Solny Adalsteinsson is finding more ticks under multiflora rose than uninvaded areas 25 meters away.  However, uninvaded forest fragments had more ticks than invaded fragments did overall.  She is currently collecting data on Lyme disease infection prevalence and tick burdens on mice.

Dr. Greg Shiver studies birds in the FRAME fragments.  He is looking at whether there is a link between invaded sites and the lack of calcium-rich prey important for breeding birds.

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Insect feeding on Buddleja

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Sylvan Kaufman

Researchers in the Netherlands have posted some preliminary data on insect feeding on invasive Buddleja davidii shrubs compared to native species demonstrating that there is less insect feeding on the leaves, http://eco-restore.net/2014/09/29/is-buddleja-davidii-important-food-resource-for-leaf-herbivores-in-quarries/#more-316

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Composting invasive plants

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Sylvan Kaufman

Composting invasive plants has to be done carefully to fully kill seeds and other potential propagules.  Researchers in Texas built a composting facility to handle wetland invasive plants and report on their experience in an article in Invasive Plant Science and Management.  Wouldn’t it be great to turn those invasive plants into compost to raise native seedlings?

Erica J. Meier, Tina M.Waliczek, & Michael L. Abbott. 2014. Composting Invasive Plants in the Rio Grande River. Invasive Plant Science and Management, http://www.wssajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1614/IPSM-D-13-00089.1

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Factors that make temperate forests susceptible to invasion

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Sylvan Kaufman

Higher light availability, later spring leaf-out, and higher soil nitrate levels in intact forests all correlate with a greater abundance of invasive plants.  The authors of this study looked at interior forest understories where different canopy species resulted in different resource levels.  One of the trees studied was black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia.  This tree is native to a small part of the United States, but was widely planted in the eastern and central U.S.  It may facilitate plant invasions into forests because of it fixes nitrogen and has relatively high light levels under its canopy.

Dreiss, L.M. and J. C. Volin.  2013. Influence of leaf phenology and site nitrogen on invasive species establishment in temperate deciduous forest understories.  Forest Ecology and Management 296:1-8.

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Which Eucalyptus are High Risk?

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Sylvan Kaufman

Eucalyptus are being considered as possible biofuel and timber crops in tropical and subtropical parts of the United States.  A group of researchers assessed 38 Eucalyptus species currently being tested and cultivated in the U.S. for their risk of becoming invasive.  They used a modification of the Australian Weed Risk Assessment protocol.  14 of the 38 taxa were found to be high risk.

Doria R. Gordon, S. Luke Flory, Aimee L. Cooper, & Sarah K. Morris. 2012. Assessing the invasion risk of Eucalyptus in the United States using the Australian weed risk assessment. International Journal of Forestry Research, 2012 Issue, pp 1-7, doi:10.1155/2012/203768

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