Handle Invasive Species

Table of Contents

Introduction

"Invasive species have two main characteristics: they are non-native (exotic/alien) to the ecosystem that they occupy, and their existence in that ecosystem causes or is likely to cause harm to the economy, environment, or human health. If left unchecked, invasive species can threaten native species, biodiversity, ecosystem services, recreation, water resources, agricultural and forest production, cultural resources, economies and property values, public safety, and infrastructure."

According to a report from The Weather Channel, invasives may be driving as much as 60% of extinctions, while threatening our food supplies, spreading diseas, and costing $423 billion in costly damages.

What To Do About Invasives

Prevention Is Better Than Reaction

Once an invasive species is loose and reproducing in an ecosystem, it can be more-or-less impossible to reverse the problem. Large continents and difficult terrains can be the hardest to work in, however some islands have had massive success with catching and killing off invasives such as rats who's egg-eating habits put many island birds at risk of extinction.

Prevention can be done using sensible laws and enforcement policies (for example requiring plant nurseries to sell natives, instead of invasive species). Such acts can help protect and even boost the health of our economies and environment.

Example of Preventative Programs

Management


In some cases, you can simply pull out invasive weeds, and put them through a chipper (this may help some invasives spread), into a compost (watch out for seeds!), a burn pile (which contributes to air pollution), and some may be appropriate for turning into plant fertilizer.


In some cases invasives can be fed to animals or even eaten by humans. 

Recipes for Invasives

Words of Caution!


One drawback to finding uses for invasives is that it might promote people to retain or even purposeful raise/farm the invasives if they become too useful or popular. 

It's also very important to identify a species correctly before handling, harming, or consuming it. Some species (especially plants and fungi!) may be poisonous, but look almost exactly like a non-deadly counterpart.

When extracting plants, be careful to remove as much root as possible, since aggressive plants can easily come back from even tiny root remnants. 

Similarly it is best to destroy plants before they can seed. Sometimes handling the plant is enough help the seeds explode everywhere.

Some species such as hogweed are particularly dangerous. Causing serious pain, and dangerous sensitivity to sunlight.

Hogweed is One of Canada's Most Dangerous Plants, Here's What You Should Know

2:42 minute video explains that "If you touch the sap of giant hogweed, it could lead to 3rd-degree burns. That's why The Weather Network's Mark Robinson dons a hazmat suit to learn about how to remove Canada's most noxious weed." 

Hogweed grows along trails or near water, and looks similar to Queen Ann's Lace.

Terrestrial Plants

"The term "weed" means different things to different people.  In the broadest sense, it is any plant growing where it is not wanted. Weeds can be native or non-native, invasive or non invasive, and noxious or not noxious. Legally, a noxious weed is any plant designated by a Federal, State or county government as injurious to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife or property. (Sheley, Petroff, and Borman,1999) A noxious weed is also commonly defined as a plant that grows out of place and is "competitive, persistent, and pernicious." (James, et al, 1991)." - US Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management 

Prevention: What you can do!

1. Be on the lookout for invasive plants

Learn to identify noxious and invasive plants.  Remove them from your property and report any infestations you may come across on public land to the local land manager.  Avoid collecting plants you do not know and don’t grow them.

2. Keep yourself and your gear clean

Clean all recreation gear, clothing and shoes before leaving an area to avoid inadvertently taking seeds along to the next campsite, river or town. Seeds and spores can hitchhike on muddy hiking boots, running shoes, backpacks, tents, recreational vehicles (OHV & snowmobiles), farm and garden equipment, boats and aircrafts.  Do not camp in or hike through weed infested areas. Stay on designated trails.

Buy certified weed-free forage and mulch.

3. Don’t plant a pest!

Landscape with native plants. Gardeners may be tempted to use beautiful plants that are terrible pests once they escape into the wild. If you see invasive plants sold in your local greenhouse, nursery, or pet store, inform the owner that the species is invasive and suggest they not sell the species.

Aquatic Plants

Invasive aquatic plants can choke water ways and other forms of plant life. They disrupt ecosystems, replacing food and shelter that native animals are adapted to live along side. By removing invasive plants, we can prevent water quality issues, habitat disruption, and provide native plants a chance to regenerate.

Equipment

Aquatic Weed Harvesters

"This Aquatic Weed Harvester can gather weeds and excessive amounts of trash in waterways of all sizes.

Cleantec Infra made the machine that functions similarly like an underwater lawnmower. Its conveyer belt lowers into the water and cuts, collects, and stores the trash/weeds until it needs to be discharged."

Bubble Curtains

These can be used to capture plastic pollution including cigarettes, reduce or eliminate underwater noise pollution, and now we're learning they can also be used for aquatic weed control!

Bubble Curtains: A Brief Introduction

This 1:21 minute video shows the same alignment and capture set up that is used for plastic waste capture, can also work for aquatic weeds which snap off into small pieces and are spread around by boat movements.

Identify Invasives: Apps & Guides

The following include apps, local/regional guides, and some of the sites or apps also double as a way to report invasives, which may be important for scientists to track their progress through an area, or alert trained people who can come and safely handle the species in question. 

Invasive Management Resources

Ethiopia

These resources offer photos and guides for getting rid of invasives, including edible species, and species which can be turned into useful resources.

Related Information

This section includes infographics and articles about the social, economic, and environmental benefits of tackling invasive species in Ethiopia.

Kenya

These resources offer photos and guides for getting rid of invasives, including edible species, and species which can be turned into useful resources.

Related Information

This section includes infographics and articles about the social, economic, and environmental benefits of tackling invasive species in Kenya.

Nigeria

Sudan

Related Information

This section includes information about tackling invasive species in Sudan.

Tanzania

These resources offer photos and guides for getting rid of invasives, including edible species, and species which can be turned into useful resources.

Related Information

This section includes infographics and articles about the social, economic, and environmental benefits of tackling invasive species in Tanzania.

North America

This selection includes apps that help Canada, the USA, and some also include locations such as Mexico, Central America and US territories. Scroll down further for Canada or US-specific apps and resources.

Caribbean

Central America

USA

Arizona

1:58 minute video about Stinknet or Stinkweed, and how to get rid of it, before it takes over Pheonix, Arizona.

Florida

Texas

Oceana

Australia

Not apps, but further resources & guides:

Fiji

New Zealand

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Tonga

South America

Solutions & Techniques

Tracking, Monitoring, & Reporting

The best way to understand how invasives spread, is via tracking their movements and allowing the public to help report their presense. This way we can devise strategies that reduce impact on natives, both cost effectively and with respect to humans in the impacted area. For this we need all the data we can get, using updated info as feedback to determine each programs effectiveness, which can let us adjust programs and techniques as needed.

The following can be useful tools in this process. They can be used individually or together to improve accessibility and utility:

Apps for Tracking & Reporting

Apps can use trained AI to help identify invasives more quickly, while community members can aid with identifications and verification. Invasive species can be tagged in the system so that they are automatically reported to local authorities or other pertinent organizations.

Hotlines and E-mail Addresses 

These are useful option for concerned citizens needing to report in a hurry, not all of whom own fancy cellphones or download apps. Hotline workers can quickly calm and assure after false alarms, provide science-based information including solutions or descriptions of things that should definitely be reported in the future, or they can quickly make phone calls to the local branch who can handle things if there is in fact an emergency situation.

Citizen Science

These programs can have very board subjects of focus - for example all mammals in a country, down to very specific topics like measuring light pollution levels or monitoring nest cameras for specific bird species. Some citizen science programs keep an eye out specifically for invasive species, while others might accidentally become invasion notification as problematic species move into an area.

BioBlitz

A BioBlitz a very short ecological evaluation in a specific region. They often last only one to 3 days, but some might be an hour long (for example a school yard bioblitz with students only needs to last for one class period), while more challenging areas with less volunteers could last for an entire month, for example undersea bioblitz have needed this long because of dangerous conditions and limited personnel.


Alien CSI Bioblitz is a citizen science project to engage Europeans in invasive species monitoring. They also include Turkey.

Pamphlets & Posters

I used to love looking at posters of organisms throughout my school years, I even have some on my walls today. Now that I'm active in rewilding my area, I like to travel with a few tools including a small bag of pamphlets and wildlife identification books for birds, bugs, and plants in my area.

Internet doesn't always work when you stray from home, but don't underestimate the joy of matching a first sighting with even a short blurb in a pamphlet or guidebook. 

Ocean Organisms

Lionfish

Humans Can eat Properly Prepared Lionfish & Used for Crafts

 "When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Another control method is the use of lionfish spines, fins and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas and St. Vincent and the Grenadines."

Training Wild Predators to Eat Lionfish

Lionfish are invading the Caribbean and coast of Florida, but a recent discovery found that lionfish can tolerate fresh water too, meaning they may also pose a risk to freshwater ecosystems over time.

So far the species who have been found to tolerate eating lionfish include:

Feeding Lionfish to Sharks

1:33 minute video

Teaching Eels to Eat Invasive Lionfish

"A divemaster off the coast of St. Kitts spears lionfish (an invasive species in the Caribbean) and feeds them to sharks to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. Culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts. Adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely from the effectiveness of their venomous spines. Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. During our diving at St. Kitts, we witnessed that sharks are also capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines"

Teaching Grouper How to Eat a Lion Fish

Barracuda Eats Lionfish

Traps for Lionfish

Traps Being Tested to Control Destructive Lionfish

Harpoon Fishing

Lionfish Clean Up

You can see the specialized harpoons and containers used to catch invasive lionfish.

What to Do with Lionfish

Though they are venomous, their exotic fins can be turned into jewelry, and their meat can be eaten if prepared properly.

How To Fillet Lionfish - Two Ways To Prepare for Cooking

This 9:51 minute video shows where the dangerous spines are, and how to safely prepare the fish for eating.

While most of the solutions on this site are vegan, solutions like this can help protect native species, while supporting the people who are willing to risk their safety catching these dangerous invaders. While it would be nice to protect all species equally, these unfortunately massacre entire reef systems when they invade places that these fish are not native too, reducing our chances of rescuing our reefs and the many endangered species that live in them.

Organizations

Africa

Ethiopia

Kenya

Tanzania

Europe

North America

USA

Arizona

Maps

International


Pacific Oysters 

Africa


Biocontrol Solutions for Invasives

Europe

Oceana

New Zealand

Grants & Funding

North America

USA

Minnesota