Invasive Species Category

Elephants and rhinos in Australia ‘could control damaging wild grasses’

Published on February 1, 2012 in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species and Livestock.


African gamba grass, introduced in the 1930s, wreaks havoc on the landscape and provides dangerous fuel for wildfires, experts say

Elephants and rhinoceros should be introduced to the Australian outback to control the impact of damaging wild grasses, according to an Australian professor of environmental change biology. But other Australian academics warned the proposal risked its own set of problems.

Prof David Bowman of the University of Tasmania says the giant African gamba grass, introduced as food for livestock in the 1930s, wreaks havoc on the landscape and provides dangerous fuel for wildfires across northern and central Australia.

“Australia has a deeply troubled ecology and current land management approaches are failing,” he said.

Because of its height, gamba grass almost completely replaces native vegetation. Its fuel load is up to eight times greater than that of native grasses meaning it burns with greater intensity and produces substantial greenhouse gases.

Bowman estimates that at least 5% of the Australian continent was burnt in massive fires last year, an area three times the size of England. He says, if unchecked, the gamba grass has the potential to grow to cover an equivalent area of the country.

In an article for Nature magazine, Bowman proposes introducing large herbivores like elephants and rhinoceroses as a way of containing Gamba grass which can grow to four meters in height.

“It is too big for marsupial grazers (kangaroos) and for cattle or buffalo, the largest feral mammals,” he said. Continue reading ‘Elephants and rhinos in Australia ‘could control damaging wild grasses’’

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Funding approved to continue fight against Guam’s brown tree snake

Published on October 18, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.


It appears the effort to eradicate the notorious brown tree snake on Guam and keep it from infesting Hawaii will not fall victim to congressional budget tightening – at least for now.

The program was on the verge of being canceled this week because the fiscal year is ending and Congress has imposed a moratorium on the type of earmark funding that has kept it running for years.

At the last minute, the Defense and Interior departments agreed to pitch in $2.9 million to rescue the effort to secure ports and kill off the snakes for the next nine months, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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The brown tree snake was introduced on Guam following World War II and has since decimated native bird species and plagued the island with electrical blackouts caused by snakes infesting transformers. Meanwhile, scientists fear the pest could be accidentally imported to Hawaii and severely damage the island environment and cost hundreds of millions of dollars – or even billions – in economic losses.

“We don’t want a break in service, obviously, and so that’s why there was very much concern over the budget situation,” Continue reading ‘Funding approved to continue fight against Guam’s brown tree snake’

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Wild donkeys to be taken from Hawaii to California

Published on August 5, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species and Livestock.


Home > Breaking News > World > Story
Aug 6, 2011
Wild donkeys to be taken from Hawaii to California

HONOLULU – IN AN effort to control Hawaii’s wild donkey population, about 100 of them are being taken to California.

KITV reports the Humane Society of the United States is planning to remove the donkeys on a chartered plane next month.

Hawaii Humane Society state director Inga Gibson says they will go to animal sanctuaries.

Drought conditions led the donkeys from the highlands into a populated area in search of water. Donkeys were appearing near the highway and a school.

The Humane Society and a local veterinarian have been trapping and sterilising the animals. At the end of the month, a clinic is to be set up at a ranch to castrate captured male donkeys.

Ms Gibson says donors are to help with costs of the chartered flight. — AP

Wild donkeys to be taken from Hawaii to California

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Tiny snails survive digestion by birds

Published on July 10, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.


Snails are able to survive intact after being eaten by birds, according to scientists.

Japanese white-eyes on the island of Hahajima, Japan feast on tiny land snails.

Researchers found that 15% of the snails eaten survived digestion and were found alive in the birds’ droppings.

This evidence suggests that bird predation could be a key factor in how snail populations spread.

The Japanese white-eye or mejiro is widespread in Japan but considered an invasive species in Hawaii

It is well known that plant seeds are dispersed by birds that eat fruit.

But in findings published in the Journal of Biogeography, researchers from Tohoku University, Japan investigated whether invertebrates could also spread in this way.

Previous research has shown that ponds snails can survive being eaten by fishes but the same was not known for land snails.

Studies of the diets of birds on the island of Hahajima identified the Japanese white-eye’s preference for the tiny land snail Tornatellides boeningi.

In the lab scientists fed the birds with the snails to find out whether any survived the digestive process.

“We were surprised that a high rate, about 15 percent, of snails were still alive after passing through the gut of [the] birds,” Continue reading ‘Tiny snails survive digestion by birds’

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Hawaii officials looking for stinging caterpillar

Published on June 9, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.


Hawaii agriculture officials are asking for the public’s help in spotting infestations of the stinging nettle caterpillar, which appears to have recently spread to Kauai.

The state Department of Agriculture said Wednesday Kauai residents may begin to see more of the bugs during the summer, the peak months for the species.

The Big Island, Maui, and Oahu already have established populations of the caterpillar, which carries a painful sting.

Last August, a Kauai plant nursery owner found one and turned it in to the agency’s plant quarantine branch. The department has since found adult moths in Wailua, Kapaa and Kilauea.

The caterpillar is white and has a long stripe running down its back. Those allergic to the bug may have difficulty breathing or develop other serious symptoms after being stung.

Hawaii officials looking for stinging caterpillar – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

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Fences protect 8,000 acres of Kaua‘i wilderness

Published on June 3, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species, Native Hawaiian Plants and Sustainability.

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Endangered species hotspot now guarded against goats, pigs
A new pair of fences in the remote wilderness of Kaua‘i will reportedly protect the island’s primary source of water and one of the most important biological diversity hotspots in the Hawaiian archipelago.

These strong barriers, developed by The Nature Conservancy for the benefit of the Kaua‘i Watershed Alliance, will shelter 8,000 acres of the state’s most pristine wildland from the onslaught of invading feral animals, a news release states.

“These are just amazing areas. Everywhere you look, you are surrounded by incredible native Hawaiian birds, plants and insects. There is nowhere in the state like quite like it,” said Jeff Schlueter, Kaua‘i natural resource manager for The Nature Conservancy.

Ken Wood, a prominent biologist with the National Tropical Botanical Garden, which is a key partner in the Kaua‘i Alliance, said the biological diversity of the region is remarkable. He calls the area “one of the most important conservation sites in the entire archipelago.”

This land is also the core of the island’s watershed, a place where abundant rains and mists are soaked up and then feed the island’s rivers and its aquifer.

“These fences were conceived to protect the primary source of the island’s water supply. Continue reading ‘Fences protect 8,000 acres of Kaua‘i wilderness’

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Book Excerpt: ‘Intelligent Tinkering’ By Robert Cabin | Audubon Magazine Blog

Published on June 3, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species, Native Hawaiian Plants and Sustainability.

Book Excerpt: ‘Intelligent Tinkering’ By Robert Cabin
Categories:

* Animals * Birds * Nature * Plants * Reviews * Travel * Wildlife

By Alisa Opar
05/31/2011

Hawaii is home to one of the world’s last dry tropical forests. In their prime, these magnificent ecosystems were bastions of biodiversity. Now, only 10 percent of the state’s original dry forests survive. In Intelligent Tinkering, Robin Cabin, an associate professor of ecology and environmental science at Brevard College and a former restoration ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, draws on his own experience in doing restoration work in the few remaining Hawai’ian dry forests.

Below is the excerpted first chapter from Intelligent Tinkering, by Robert Cabin. August 2011, Island Press.

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Continue reading ‘Book Excerpt: ‘Intelligent Tinkering’ By Robert Cabin | Audubon Magazine Blog’

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Axis deer on Hawaii island pose problem for state

Published on May 28, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes, Hunting, Invasive Species and Native Hawaiian Plants.


State officials are developing plans to remove axis deer in Hawaii County before damage becomes significant to ranch grasslands, farm crops and plants that are vital to maintain watershed areas.

“We will need to take quick and effective action to prevent costly and destructive impacts on the Big Island that will last for generations, perhaps forever,” said William Aila, director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Kahua Ranch Ltd. Chairman Monte Richards said axis deer can cause great damage to Hawaii island’s forest in Kohala and become difficult to remove once they’re established.

“The thing is to get to them early, and you’ve got a chance,” Richards said.

Richards said Hawaii island ranchers successfully fought against the idea of importing axis deer in the 1960s. He suspects the axis deer were illegally shipped to the island in recent years by someone who wanted the animal for game hunting.

State conservation officials working closely with trackers and using game cameras to survey areas in recent weeks have confirmed the presence of axis deer across the island, including in Kohala, Kau, Kona and Mauna Kea. Continue reading ‘Axis deer on Hawaii island pose problem for state’

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PLoS ONE: Evolution, Insular Restriction, and Extinction of Oceanic Land Crabs, Exemplified by the Loss of an Endemic Geograpsus in the Hawaiian Islands

Published on May 20, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

Most oceanic islands harbor unusual and vulnerable biotas as a result of isolation. As many groups, including dominant competitors and predators, have not naturally reached remote islands, others were less constrained to evolve novel adaptations and invade adaptive zones occupied by other taxa on continents. Land crabs are an excellent example of such ecological release, and some crab lineages made the macro-evolutionary transition from sea to land on islands. Numerous land crabs are restricted to, although widespread among, oceanic islands, where they can be keystone species in coastal forests, occupying guilds filled by vertebrates on continents. In the remote Hawaiian Islands, land crabs are strikingly absent.

Here we show that absence of land crabs in the Hawaiian Islands is the result of extinction, rather than dispersal limitation. Analysis of fossil remains from all major islands show that an endemic Geograpsus was abundant before human colonization, grew larger than any congener, and extended further inland and to higher elevation than other land crabs in Oceania.

Land crabs are major predators of nesting sea birds, invertebrates and plants, affect seed dispersal, control litter decomposition, and are important in nutrient cycling; their removal can lead to large-scale shifts in ecological communities. Although the importance of land crabs is obvious on remote and relatively undisturbed islands, it is less apparent on others, likely because they are decimated by humans and introduced biota. The loss of Geograpsus and potentially other land crabs likely had profound consequences for Hawaiian ecosystems. Continue reading ‘PLoS ONE: Evolution, Insular Restriction, and Extinction of Oceanic Land Crabs, Exemplified by the Loss of an Endemic Geograpsus in the Hawaiian Islands’

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Extinct land crab once held isle sway

Published on May 20, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.


Hordes of land crabs occupied the Hawaiian Islands until they went extinct after the arrival of Polynesians some 1,000 years ago, says a Florida researcher who describes the species for the first time.

“If these land crabs were alive today, Hawaii would be a very different place,” said researcher Gustav Paulay, with the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. “They certainly were major ecological players.”

The species was unique to the Hawaiian Islands and was the most land-adapted crab in the Pacific, expanding further inland and to higher elevations than any other, Paulay says in a posting this week on the website PLoS ONE. The omnivores had a body about the size of a large hand and a pair of claws, the right bigger than the left.

Fossils of the species, Geograpsus severnsi, have been found on the major Hawaiian Islands for many years, but its identity was not clear. Researchers identified the crab by comparing physical characteristics with specimens from various collections.

Like other island land crabs, G. severnsi appears to have retained ties to the sea, where its larvae developed, Paulay says.

An analysis of the radiocarbon-dated specimens show they vanished soon after Polynesians colonized the Hawaiian Islands about 1,000 years ago Continue reading ‘Extinct land crab once held isle sway’

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The incredible floating fire ant

Published on April 25, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.


By Brian Vastag,

Congress — and perhaps the rest of us — could learn a thing or two about teamwork from Solenopsis invicta, the dreaded fire ant.

When in danger of drowning, a colony of the critters — thousands of them — will save themselves by joining forces and forming a raft. They pile together and lock legs and jaws. So bound, an ant raft can survive for months.

Engineers studying animal oddities now report that together, the ants aren’t just stronger. They’re floatier. Airtight, even.

“Water does not penetrate the raft,” said Nathan Mlot, a mechanical engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology and lead author of the ant-raft report published in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academies. Even the bottom layer of ants stays dry, he said.

Engineers, Mlot went on to explain, think the rafting behavior might aid the quest for new waterproof materials and offer lessons for robotics research. Continue reading ‘The incredible floating fire ant’

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Rare plants thrive in Big Island Forest preserve

Published on April 23, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species, Native Hawaiian Plants and endangered species.


The Nature Conservancy says rare native plants are once again thriving in a Big Island forest preserve now that a fence is keeping out pigs and mouflon sheep.

The animals, which are not native to Hawaii, destroy native plants and habitats by trampling on vegetation. The animals accelerate erosion and pollute the water supply with feces and diseases.

The nonprofit organization installed an animal-proof fence around its Kaiholena Preserve in Kau in late 2007. It took the conservancy and local hunters another year to remove all the pigs from the 1,200-acre lowland forest preserve.

The Nature Conservancy said Tuesday the nuku iiwi, a native vine traditionally found in Kaiholena, is among the plants that has returned. The vine’s reddish-orange flower resembles the curved bill of the iiwi honeycreeper.

Rare plants thrive in Big Island Forest preserve – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

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Kia‘i Moku: Rats run amok on isles

Published on April 9, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.


Rats have plagued Hawaiians for a very long time, and not just the human residents.

Rats were the first invasive species in Hawaii. The first voyagers to the Hawaiian Islands brought Polynesian rats, Rattus exulans, and they spread quickly, colonizing the islands faster and farther than the people. Ancient Hawaii was a world full of spectacular birds, insects, and plants; the only native land mammal didn’t crawl – it flew – the hoary bat.

These native species evolved without seed-eating, egg-stealing rodents, so when rats arrived, plants were defenseless and birds were naive to this new threat. Compounding the situation, the Polynesian rat was followed by other rodents: the Norwegian ship rat and house mouse – hitchhikers in the European and American ships of the late 1700s and 1800s. Rodents ate their way through Hawaii, overrunning the islands from the shore to mountain top, fueled by a diet rich in plants, birds, snails and insects.

According to Peter Dunlevy, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service biologist with 15 years of experience researching rats, the greatest impact isn’t on any one particular area. Rats hammer numerous aspects of the environment – from the seeds they devour to the nesting albatross they attack. “But everything is on such a small scale with rodents; it’s easy to overlook.” Continue reading ‘Kia‘i Moku: Rats run amok on isles’

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UH gardening gurus set invasive-species classes

Published on March 7, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species and Native Hawaiian Plants.


Hawaii gardeners have the advantage of a year-round growing season that allows us to pick up plants any time of year and add them to our backyard collection. And local garden centers carry an abundance of ornamental shrubs, trees and herbs from which to choose.

The University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service wants to help home gardeners to be knowledgeable when choosing plant material. The UH Master Gardeners on Oahu have teamed up with the Hawaii Invasive Species Council to provide classes and demonstrations to the public. (See the Star-Advertiser’s Home & Garden calendar for class listings.)

What is an invasive species? Technically, according to HISC, an invasive species is an alien species — plant, animal, or microbe transported by humans to a location outside its native range — whose introduction has caused or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.

Basically, foreign plant material that propagates at warp speed and those seeds or plant parts that can travel long distances to naturally forested areas are termed invasive. These plants often demonstrate rapid and aggressive growth, production of numerous seeds that are spread easily by wind, wing or water, and the ability to grow under many different soil and climatic conditions.

What is the impact of invasive species? It’s the plants whose “keiki” reach the natural forested areas that take the largest toll on our native species and ecosystems. They threaten native plant habitats, reducing the number of native plants and affecting plant biodiversity, as well as the insect biodiversity that depends on those plants. Continue reading ‘UH gardening gurus set invasive-species classes’

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Illegal lizard captured at Maui hotel

Published on February 12, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.


The state Department of Agriculture says an illegal lizard was found roaming a Maui hotel hallway.

The department said yesterday that hotel staff captured the alligator lizard on Feb. 3 and handed it over to inspectors. It is not known how the lizard got to the hotel.

The species is illegal in Hawaii but is native to a stretch of North America from southern Washington state to Baja California. They can grow up to 2 feet in length. Their diet includes insects, spiders, snails and other lizards.

Illegal lizard captured at Maui hotel – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

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New gardens director to infuse more native culture

Published on February 7, 2011 in Flowers & Nursery, General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species and Native Hawaiian Plants.


KAHULUI The new executive director of Maui Nui Botanical Gardens wants to cultivate public interest in what she calls “a cultural gem in the middle of Kahului.”

Joylynn Jennifer-Nedine Mailemekalokelanionakupuna Nakoa Kaho’okele Paman took over as head of the 7-acre facility last week.

She succeeds Lisa Schattenburg-Raymond, who is teaching at the University of Hawaii Maui College, and Anders Lyons, who served as interim executive director.

Paman’s vision for Maui Nui Botanical Gardens may sprout partially from having studied Hawaiian language for 18 years.

“My vision here is to infuse the Hawaiian culture even more than it already is into this place. I come from a strong Hawaiian culture and language background, and so I just see the potential in sharing our Hawaiian culture with the community.

“The board wants to make sure that people know about this place. . . . It’s like a cultural gem in the middle of Kahului that we really need to share with everyone else.” Continue reading ‘New gardens director to infuse more native culture’

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