Invasive Plants

The "Phragmites Management and Variable Great Lakes Water Levels" GeoNarrative presents research by the US Geological Survey and US Fish and Wildlife Service on how Great Lakes water levels affect expansion and management of coastal Phragmites populations.

USGS is working closely with partners in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IMJV) to collect and summarize spatial datasets that describe measurable aspects of invasive annual grasses (e.g., biomass or presence) across the western United Stated and beyond. The products developed through this project provide...

The Southern Border Fuels Management Initiative was initiated in 2017 to reduce wildfire risk and improve border security by actively conducting fuels treatments on Department of Interior (DOI) and tribal lands within 100 miles of the US-Mexico border. The initiative supports Executive Order 13855: Promoting Active Management of America’s Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal Land to Improve...

Using temperature, species occurrence, field-based freeze damage data, and regression analyses for 84 invasive species, researchers at WARC are quantifying the species-specific relationships between minimum temperature and plant presence.

ʻŌhiʻa ( Metrosideros polymorpha) is the dominant tree in Hawaiian forests, but Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD), a newly emerging disease that stands to cause high mortality of this ecologically important tree, may lead to invasions by exotic plants as gaps open in the forest. To better understand if planting of ʻōhiʻa seedlings can be used as a restoration tool, we investigated the survival of ʻōhiʻa...

Recent popular news has implied that Weed-Suppressive Bacteria (WSB) holds promise for cheatgrass control, yet a lack of peer-reviewed research exists to support this claim. USGS researchers stepped up to the challenge of objectively and rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of WSB for controlling exotic annual grasses, such as Cheatgrass and Medusahead, while also examining its impact on native...

USGS is collecting remotely sensed data to classify Salvinia molesta, a non-native aquatic species that reduces light and oxygen levels in water, making it unsuitable for fish and other aquatic plant life.

Tallgrass prairie species are planted in a variety of settings for a variety of reasons. Much of the seed used for these plantings is produced commercially in agricultural-like conditions and can be contaminated by “weed seeds.” In this study, we are creating an analytical tool to assess the risk of inadvertently introducing weed seeds into a prairie planting. We purpose that increasing the...

Invasive annual grasses, such as cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum) and medusahead ( Taeniatherum caput-medusae), are one of the most significant stressors to rangeland ecosystems in the western U.S. Their expansion and dominance across this area are the most damaging ecosystem agents on this iconic landscape.

Two invasive species of floating hearts, Nymphoides cristata and N. indica, are actively managed in Florida. A rare native species, N. humboldtiana, has been found in Florida and verified by molecular methods; this species is nearly indistinguishable from N. indica.

Invasion by annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome) and other exotic annual grasses into National Park Service units (parks) in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) impacts park ecological and historical landscape integrity. The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) decision support tool (DST) was built to support vegetation management decision making, particularly regarding these...

Prescribed fire is used in grasslands throughout the Northern Great Plains National Park Service units (parks) to manage fuel loads, control nonnative species, and maintain a vital ecosystem process. Questions about its effects in areas with invasive annual brome grasses require answers to ensure its application produces desired results. Using an experimental approach at two parks in South Dakota...