#nisaw

Meet two invasive species in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is 750,000 square miles from anywhere.

More than 15 species of birds rely on the refuge for safe nesting sites, including three species of boobies, sooty terns, greyback terns, red-tailed and white-tailed tropic birds, greater frigatebirds and several species of shorebirds. 

Other than the birds, the only residents of the island are small teams of volunteers who are working to save the birds from invasive species.

Blogger’s note: This article originally appeared in the Kitsap Sun and was written by by Adrianne Akmajian, Marine Ecologist, Makah Fisheries Management

Photo: Reggie Buttram (left) and Joe MacDonald (right) of Makah Fisheries Management retrieving European green crab from traps in the Wa’atch River on October 5th, 2017

Trapping results

On October 4th – 6th, the Makah Fisheries Management Department led an effort to detect invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas) in the Wa’atch and Tsoo-Yess rivers. This effort was organized after a confirmed report of the invasive crab was reported to the Makah Tribe by Washington Sea Grant (WSG) Crab Team and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Program. In late August, a member of the public found and photographed a European green crab in the intertidal near the Wa’atch River mouth and reported the sighting to the WSG Crab Team. After this initial report, staff from the Fisheries Department conversed with experts from the WSG Crab Team, WDFW AIS Program, and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) AIS Program to get advice on how to respond.

Based on guidance from these agencies, the Fisheries Department decided that a rapid effort to set traps for the invasive crabs would be crucial to begin to assess the extent of crab infestation on the Makah Reservation. WSG Crab Team assisted the Fisheries Department in selecting locations of where to set traps for the crabs using aerial imagery of the Wa’atch and Tsoo-Yess river valleys to look for the green crab’s preferred habitat – side channels off the main river with soft mud bottoms, undercut banks, and salt water exposure. A date for the initial trapping effort was set, and traps, trapping gear, and bait were provided to the Tribe by WDFW and delivered to the Fisheries Office by a staff member from USFWS. Over this three-day effort, a total of 13 staff from the Fisheries Department as well as one staff member from USFWS and a volunteer of Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge assisted with this effort.

Blogger’s note: Katey Strailey is presently a Student Conservation Association intern currently working with the Quantitative Ecology & Technology Program at Abernathy Fish Technology Center in Longview, WA. Our hardworking interns have some pretty cool experiences during their time with the Service are often inspired to write about them. Be sure to catch up on the rest of the series by reading the other Intern Adventures!

Photo: Sunset at the Marshall Pond near the headquarters of Malheur NWR.

It’s a quiet evening in late September, and as the sun sinks below the horizon, it bathes the sky in warm tones that make me forget how cold it is. It’s our second fishing attempt of the trip, and our last shot before we leave. Just beneath the surface of the water, we can see the splashing made by our target fish; the pond is stuffed with them. When the light has almost faded, we resign ourselves to another fruitless try and prepare to head out- until I feel a tug on my line. With a quick jerk to set the hook in its mouth, I reel in my catch- the first fish I have ever caught. It’s not a prized sportfish, nor is it something I want to take home and throw on the barbecue. It’s a common carp.

Photo: I help Malheur NWR fish biologist Joe Barnett complete a safety check before we take the airboat out on Malheur Lake. With water at just a couple feet deep, airboats are the best way to get around on the lake.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1908 to provide habitat for migrating birds (particularly waterfowl). At its heart sits 77 square mile Malheur Lake, which serves as an important rest stop on the Pacific Flyway, serving countless birds on their annual migrations along the west coast of the Americas. But now, this invaluable place is threatened by an invader- carp, accidentally introduced to the lake sometime in the early 20th century. As bottom feeders, carp stir up muck from the bottom of water bodies, damaging water quality and uprooting the plants that migrating birds feed on. Multiply that by the estimated 50 million carp in Malheur Lake, and you have a problem.

Video: A time lapse of experimental enclosures in Windmill Pond at Malheur NWR

That’s where I come in. As part of a joint team between the Refuge and Abernathy and with additional help from the FWS Fisheries office in Vancouver, WA, I ventured from southwestern Washington to southeastern Oregon to set up the bones for a new experiment- those bones being 21 large enclosures in a man-made pond. Built with actual blood and sweat (though not tears), these enclosures will hold carp in different densities. Our goal? Determine the density at which plants can survive and water quality isn’t diminished. With 50 million carp, the chance of complete eradication is incredibly slim- this project will allow us to set a realistic management goal for Refuge staff to aim for in the lake. When summer comes, we’ll stock the enclosures with carp and the experiment will begin.

By Jack Payne

[email protected]

@JackPayneIFAS

A snake so voracious it can swallow a fully-grown deer prowls the Everglades.

An insect’s arrival in Florida seemed innocuous enough until the discovery that it carries a fungus that kills avocado trees.

A spiny newcomer to Florida is eating fish that could have been on your plate, and it is wreaking havoc on coral reefs that are crucial to supporting underwater life and the economy back on shore.

These are invasions by species that are not native to Florida. The Burmese python, the red bay ambrosia beetle and the lionfish are considered invasive species because they are non-native species that also cause environmental or economic damage.

National Invasive Species Awareness Week is an opportunity to tell the story about how invasive species devour our crops, close lakes to boating, and rewrite both the entrees and the prices on menus. Fighting these invasions requires spending of tens of millions of your tax dollars in Florida alone each year.

Figuring out how to prevent or control invasive species is a challenge so vast that premier public research universities must play a role in any substantial response.

Scientists often group themselves by their academic degrees – entomology, ecology, plant pathology, and on and on. Great public universities make themselves most useful when we can group scientists around a problem.

That’s why the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has responded to the call for expertise in invasion science.

We don’t employ “invasion scientists.” But we know that almost any of our faculty can be one with the right resources and opportunities. That’s why UF/IFAS awards grants to scientists to come together from different fields to research invasions.

It’s also why we invited in experts from New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and across the U.S. for a three-day workshop in Gainesville to start organizing effective scientific responses to invasive species.

Bringing experts together leads to more creative responses than if they all worked in isolation.

And invasion science is creative. Consider just the Burmese python. UF/IFAS has cooperated with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on bringing in snake-sniffing dogs from Auburn University and Irula tribesmen from India in hopes of teaching Floridians how to find and catch pythons. We even sent an intrepid post-doctoral researcher traipsing into the Everglades to detect whether the mosquitoes who feasted on him were also feeding on the pythons.

UF/IFAS received what’s believed to be the first U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded grant in decades for research in Cuba to scout for forest pests before they get here.

You can help. How?

·       If you’re not sure what to plant in your yard, please visit assessment.ifas.ufl.edu to get the lowdown on the invasion risk posed by hundreds of non-native plant species.

·       Don’t release pet reptiles, amphibians or any other store-bought critters into the wild. You could be detonating the next invasive species explosion.

·       If you see strange plants or animals, report them using the IVEGOT1 hotline, web page or app. FWC does a great job helping to manage invasives. UF/IFAS Extension offices can also help you find the right people to identify or respond to wildlife that could pose problems.

·       Join a citizen science effort, such as our School of Ants that gathers data on native and invasive species.

It’s a team effort. UF/IFAS scientists are working, for example, on helping wildlife managers triage the myriad reports of wildlife encounters they receive. The tool will help guide which calls require the most urgent response.

The 1,000 people a day who move here are not the only ones looking to set up a life in Florida. Plants, insects, and animals are also trying to make their way in.

The rise of invasion science at UF/IFAS is an example of how valuable publicly funded research is to a state that grows many of the nation’s winter vegetables and attracts 100 million annual visitors. Cutting-edge research will allow Florida to continue welcoming visitors while limiting harm from new arrivals that push out native Florida plants and animals.

Jack Payne is the University of Florida’s senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources and leader of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Kiholo Estuarine Ponds Restoration Project

Photo: Volunteer Work Crew - Over thirty thousand hours of volunteer time has been contributed to the project

Habitat Restoration and Volunteer Efforts

The Nature Conservancy Hawaii Marine Program began restoring fishpond function and fish productivity by removing the invasive vegetation along the shoreline of the Kiholo Bay estuarine ponds. Service staff regularly participated in the project with hands-on labor during community workdays.

Between November 2013 and August 2015, monthly community workdays typically had  a turnout of over fifty individuals.These workers pulled invasive weeds along a quarter mile of shoreline and transported green waste to containers for disposal.

The estuarine ponds at Kiholo Bay had become severely overgrown by invasive riparian vegetation; this had limited native shoreline vegetation which historically functioned to provide juvenile fish habitat. The influx of detritus and beach sentiment also reduced the average depth of the pond.

Detrital material from dead vegetation formed a thick layer of organic sediment on the bottom, resulting in periodic onsets of anoxia - an absence of oxygen in the water - and fish kills.