# invasive-spp worldwide - trends, possible fixes, bans; swarms + blooms



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

invasive fish and water-woes - USA
Can Asian carp inspire long-term solutions to Chicago's most pressing water problems?

SWEDEN - 
invasive comb-jellies may be reduced by new parasite - 
New parasite could be late summer beach pest 
unfortunately, the parasite is a larval-anemone, 
possibly native to the Western-Atlantic, where it causes a nasty bathers-rash on beach-swimmers - 
a related anemone is *native* to Swedish seas, so we will all hope it is the native-spp attacking the invader. 
it has not yet been definitively-identified.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Fire may be key to reviving dogwood trees in Eastern forests

a ten-year cycle of prescribed burns may save the Eastern Dogwood, a species crucial for many other spp - 
especially for overwintering birds from New-England to the southern Appalachians. 
it has been reliably estimated that ALL wild native-dogwood in Penna will be affected or dead by 2020-CE. 
http://www.ouachitamaps.com/picture_library/OHT/OHT Pic IMG_4318 Dogwood.jpg

http://tinyurl.com/2cjj3tg

http://sparkleberrysprings.com/v-web/b2/images/c/corcorflo091009e.jpg

an Eastern Bluebird (migratory insectivore) feeding on Grey Dogwood fruit - 
Aerial View: Proper habitats in Northeast Ohio essential to migrant birds | cleveland.com 
this is a tropicene species making a wobbly recovery post-DDT in the USA, but still at risk in S-Am where DDT is still used.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Jellyfish joyride a threat to the oceans

there is evidence that open-ocean areas can FLIP from being fish-populated to being jelly-populated, as off Namibia - 
where intensive exploitive fishing of sardines caused a popn-crash of cold-water sardines, and a popn-spike of jellies, 
taking over their niche as predators.

http://www.bclme.org/factfig/images/fig2.jpg

Ugu South Coast Tourism, addresses Sardine Run launch | Travelwires.com

_________________________________________

Passive Predators - The Jellyfish Invasions 


> Records of jellyfish swarms over the past 200 years show that *jelly populations rise naturally every 12 years, remain stable four or six years, and then subside again. Since the turn of the century, however, the pattern has been broken and their numbers have continued to escalate year after year.
> 
> But since the turn of the century, the biomass of large fish in many oceans has dropped dramatically as well. In the waters off the coast of Namibia, which used to be one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, (the biomass of large fishes) has dropped to 3.2 million tons, while the biomass of jellies has increase to 12.5 million tons.
> The reason: overfishing by the huge fish factory ships of the European Union. *


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

this is a MONOCULTURE species which grows thickly + rapidly excludes native flora; producing dead-zones, 
as fauna then have nothing to eat.

Invasive tallowtree spreading rapidly across Gulf coast 


> EXCERPT - *bold added - *
> 
> Jim Miller, a Forest Service ecologist and leading expert on invasive plants in the South, says the expansion of tallowtree in Louisiana, Mississippi and east Texas could adversely affect flora and fauna along the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.
> 
> ...


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Pathogens chase down migrating gypsy moths

National Invasive Species Information Center


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Q and A - Gangster Sparrows - Question - NYTimes.com


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Targeting the Tiniest - Green Blog - NYTimes.com

the **migratory grasshopper* AKA locust of the Great-Plains is on the march again... 
a new + hopefully less-toxic tactic is being used, aimed at baby-hoppers.

interesting NOTE - 
grasshoppers change into *locusts* purely as a result of density per area - once it reaches critical-mass, 
and they are being jostled by their too-near neighbors, a remarkable metamorphosis begins: 
they get BIGGER with longer wings, their metabolism alters, COLORS change, legs lengthen, etc.

Locust plagues

When Grasshoppers Go Biblical: Serotonin Causes Locusts to Swarm: Scientific American


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the Indian-mynah is the current target of *culling* in Aus - 
Indian mynah bird next to face Australian cull | Environment | guardian.co.uk

its very strange, Oz-residents all seem to identify with the bush, so koalas are 'good' - 
yet roos + dingoes, just as globally-unique and indigenous, are often culled with a vengeance.

PARROTS are frequently culled - all native-species; there were bounties very recently on some psittacines, 
and i would not be surprised to find that there still are parrot-bounties. 
yet the Aussie-govt will not allow [legal, tracked, documented] exportation of problematic parrots - 
they'd rather kill them? :crazy: my head is spinning.

mind U, i am not saying that KEEPING invasive-species is a good idea! not at all - 
only that Aussies seem to have a schizophrenic + contentious relationship, even with iconic Oz-critters. 
rather like me insisting that every prairie-dog die, immediately, and that only those who are captive-reared + chipped within 7-days of birth are legal, so all the wild-stock are to be killed. 
prairie-dogs serve an important function in grasslands + feed may other species; 
they also provide housing to other species [their abandoned or even shared burrows]. 
the burrowing-owl, gopher tortoise, and gopher snake are all fellow residents of prairie-dog towns.

my feeling is that eliminating an invasive-species should be done ASAP when it first escapes into the wild, 
not ** wait ** and let the popn grow. if it arrives from abroad, freeze the assets carrying the alien in place; 
the tractor-trailer, train-car, air-shipped cargo, the returning tourist, or whom or whatever. 
they go nowhere till the car, any trailer, occupants pantslegs, luggage and other areas are searched for hitchhikers. 
[dogs trained to locate the invader are Much! faster than humans.]

burrs, sticktights, spores, egg-masses, and other packaging may help transport or protect invaders; 
washing hands, changing shoes or clothing, checking under the car or draining the bilge INTO the lake 
that it came from, are all good means of avoiding transporting invaders.

CATS are the worlds most-successful invasive mammal-species; until a few years ago, 
feral-cats lived on all 7 continents; then they were banned from Antarctica and are now on 6 of the 7.

more tolerance + preservation for native-species, and PROMPT removal of new-arrival invaders, 
is my personal preference. :thumbsup:

--- terry


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the Indian-mynah is the current target of *culling* in Aus - 
Indian mynah bird next to face Australian cull | Environment | guardian.co.uk

its very strange, Oz-residents all seem to identify with the bush, so koalas are 'good' - 
yet roos + dingoes, just as globally-unique and indigenous, are often culled with a vengeance.

PARROTS are frequently culled - all native-species; there were bounties very recently on some psittacines, 
and i would not be surprised to find that there still are parrot-bounties. 
yet the Aussie-govt will not allow [legal, tracked, documented] exportation of problematic parrots - 
they'd rather kill them? :crazy: my head is spinning.

mind U, i am not saying that KEEPING invasive-species is a good idea! not at all - 
only that Aussies seem to have a schizophrenic + contentious relationship, even with iconic Oz-critters. 
rather like me insisting that every prairie-dog die, immediately, and that only those who are captive-reared + chipped within 7-days of birth are legal, so all the wild-stock are to be killed. 
prairie-dogs serve an important function in grasslands + feed may other species; 
they also provide housing to other species [their abandoned or even shared burrows]. 
the burrowing-owl, gopher tortoise, and gopher snake are all fellow residents of prairie-dog towns.

my feeling is that eliminating an invasive-species should be done ASAP when it first escapes into the wild, 
not ** wait ** and let the popn grow. if it arrives from abroad, freeze the assets carrying the alien in place; 
the tractor-trailer, train-car, air-shipped cargo, the returning tourist, or whom or whatever. 
they go nowhere till the car, any trailer, occupants pantslegs, luggage and other areas are searched for hitchhikers. 
[dogs trained to locate the invader are Much! faster than humans, when searching. ]

burrs, sticktights, spores, egg-masses, and other packaging may help transport or protect invaders; 
washing hands, changing shoes or clothing, checking under the car or draining the bilge INTO the lake 
that it came from, are all good means of avoiding transporting invaders.

CATS are the worlds most-successful invasive mammal-species; until a few years ago, 
feral-cats lived on all 7 continents; then they were banned from Antarctica and are now on 6 of the 7.

more tolerance + preservation for native-species, and PROMPT removal of new-arrival invaders, 
is my personal preference. :thumbsup:

--- terry


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

UMaine Researchers Look for Answers to Growing Fire Ant Populations


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Rare dark-ppl jellyfish? 
Rare dark jellyfish showing up in San Diego Bay

Curly-leaf Pondweed found near Bozeman, Montana


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Girl, 10, Dies After Swimming in Amoeba-Infested Water in S.C. - Infectious Disease - FOXNews.com

opinion alert - 
one medico stated that prevention short of avoiding freshwater is impossible - 
can U say * nose-clips *? putting them on BEFORE entering the water + taking them off only after exiting, 
should prevent *most* exposures.

an automatic snorkel-system with goggles that cover the nose, should also help prevent such needless [tho rare] deaths. 
JMO + IME, Ur mileage may vary  
- terry


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

BBC - Earth News - Ant mega-colony takes over world


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