Invasive Animals

Desert landscapes are rapidly changing due to increases in invasive plant species, frequency of wildfires, urban and energy development, recreational use, military training, and climate variation. Dr. Todd Esque, USGS researchers, and collaborators are working together to investigate these changes and provide managers with key information that can be used to manage natural resources more...

The terrestrial biota of the Central Pacific is primarily defined by its degree of isolation. At the center lies the Hawaiian Archipelago, which is more than 3,200 km from any continental land mass. After tens of millions of years of evolutionary isolation from all mammals except bats, islands of the Central Pacific were quite suddenly besieged by a number of alien rodents, carnivores and both...

The maculata apple snail (Pomacea maculata) has invaded many coastal and some inland areas in south Louisiana. Reports have indicated that the freshwater snails have significantly reduced the amount of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and floating leaved vegetation (FLV) available for waterfowl and other wildlife.

Islands and atolls throughout the Pacific have been impacted by invasive ant species. Threatening native ants and other arthropods with their aggressive behavior and ability to colonize large geographic areas, invasive ants pose one of the most serious threats to island ecosystems. This project focuses on three areas of the Pacific: American Samoa, Rose Atoll, and Johnston Atoll.

Six species of biting mosquitoes have been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands since Western contact, two of which are vectors of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Environmental conditions favorable for the transmission of dengue and Zika occur year-long across Hawai‘i’s coastline. To better understand the ecology of vector mosquitoes and support public health efforts, mosquito monitoring at...

The result of this technical assistance is critical to developing a lamprey pheromone as a tool to control lamprey populations in the Great Lakes. If lamprey populations are left uncontrolled, the effects lamprey would have on the fishery industry in the Great Lakes would be devastating.

The results of this research may lead to a more efficient use of the lampricides used to control lamprey populations in the Great Lakes. If lamprey populations are left uncontrolled, the effects on commercial and sport fisheries in the Great Lakes would be devastating. The treatment of sea lamprey spawning tributaries with mixtures of the piscicides 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and 2'5'...

The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) provides regulatory affairs assistance to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), state and private partners in matters regarding numerous registrations of the lampricides TFM and niclosamide in the U.S. and Canada. The result of this technical...

Concerns regarding the exposure of wildlife to TFM and niclosamide that would result from the consumption of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) larvae exposed to these chemicals has prompted a need to investigate uptake of these chemicals in larval lampreys. A study to address concerns regarding the exposure of the endangered common term during the treatment of the St. Marys River was completed in...

Zebra and quagga mussels were first introduced into the Great Lakes in the 1980’s and they have since expanded to over 750 inland lakes in addition to the 5 Great Lakes. A 2009 study conducted by the Idaho Aquatic Nuisance Species Taskforce estimated the annual economic threat of dreissenids to Idaho to be $94 million. A literature review conducted by Lovell and Stone (2005) demonstrates the...

A dead-cell, spray-dried powder formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens, strain CL145A was recently approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for control of dreissenid mussels (zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha and quagga mussel, Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in open-water environments. The EPA approved product, Zequanox® (registration number 84059-15) is manufactured by Marrone...

Zebra mussels (Dreissenia polymorpha) are native to the Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas of eastern Europe (Gollasch and Leppäkoski 1999) and they were likely introduced into Lake Erie as veliger larvae in the summer or fall of 1985 (Hebert et al. 1989). Their high reproductive capacity and planktonic larval stage enable zebra mussels to rapidly disperse (Birnbaum 2011). Less than 10 years after...