A tiny goldfish might look cute in a fishbowl on your shelf, but if released into the wild it can grow to a terrifying size and become a menace to the ecosystem. They eat pretty much anything and everything, root up plants causing the water to become cloudy and dark, and reproduce and grow so […]
invasive species
AI technology could be used to monitor invaders in the Great Lakes
Invasive zebra and quagga mussels are firmly established in the Great Lakes, and efforts to control them have proved mostly fruitless. But environmental managers still want to know where they are, how many there are and what they are up to, so they can predict how the ecosystem will be affected and protect vital infrastructure. […]
Kelp Rafts Are Bringing Invaders to Antarctica
Animals have long rafted around the planet, but the southern continent was considered too remote, too isolated, and too cold for that to be a problem—until now. Antarctica is, for the most part, cut off from the rest of the planet by swirling ocean currents, raging winds, and frigid temperatures. The continent’s physical isolation has […]
Mercury Levels Maintained: Invasive mussels keep mercury levels high in Great Lakes fish
The Great Lakes are much cleaner these days than they were just a few decades ago. Rules to get control of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, wastewater discharges and the burning of medical waste have led to a steady drop in mercury contamination of the waters and sediments. Despite that progress, the levels of […]
Considering the Nuclear Option in Controlling Invasive Species
Rotenone: when you absolutely, positively have to kill every last fish in the lake. How far would you go to get rid of an invasive species? In New Brunswick, conservation groups and local First Nations want to kill all of the fish in Miramichi Lake using a pesticide called rotenone. They want to reset the […]
How Island Bats Took Over the Mainland
South America’s short-faced fruit bats are the descendants of “reverse colonists.” When it comes to colonizing new habitats, island species tend to get the short end of the stick. Typically, organisms from the mainland invade an island and take over—pushing the natives to near extinction. But sometimes, colonization can go the other way. In a […]
Feral Hogs Root Through History
Archaeological sites inside Florida Air Force bases are threatened by foraging pigs. Feral swine, first introduced by some of the earliest European explorers to America, have been roaming Florida for the past 500 years, and are now present in at least 35 states. The invasive pigs are well-known as a destructive environmental menace, tearing up […]
The Effects of Invasive Pythons Slither through the Everglades
Pythons may be setting off a cascade of ecosystem changes. The huge Burmese pythons that are slowly taking over Florida’s Everglades wetlands are a threat to the mammals that live there. But new research shows the pythons’ influence extends far beyond their own appetites: the snakes are setting off cascading changes to the ecosystem. Read more […]
The big cull
Can New Zealand pull off an audacious plan to get rid of all invasive predators by 2050? Razza the rat nearly ended James Russell’s scientific career. Twelve years ago, as an ecology graduate student, Russell was releasing radio-collared rats on to small islands off the coast of New Zealand to study how the creatures take […]