Invasive Plant Control, Inc.

Invasive Plant Control, Inc.

Fall 2012 EDRR Webinar Series

The Landscape Approach to Early Detection and Rapid Response ? A Cost Effective Strategy for Managing New Invasive Plants at all Levels of the Landscape - Local to National.

Randy G. Westbrooks, Ph.D. Invasive Species Prevention Specialist

Abstract

Over the past 50 years, considerable effort has been made by state and federal agencies

in the United States to minimize the introduction and spread of regulated Federal and State Noxious Weeds such as Witchweed in the Carolinas.

In recent years, state interagency councils and task forces have been formed to address all types of new invasive species ? particularly species that are not being regulated by federal or state agencies. The Delaware Invasive Species Council and the Beach Vitex Task Force are good examples of this new trend in interagency partnering.

In light of current economic conditions, and resulting federal/state budget shortfalls, it is only prudent that local landowners and managers take steps now to protect their natural and managed resources from all types of introduced invasive species in the future. Developing EDRR capacity on the lands they own and/or manage is one such strategy.

This weekly webinar series provides an overview of the invasive species problem, with a focus on the landscape approach to early detection and rapid response ? a traditional, common sense, cost effective strategy for ensuring that new invasive plants are detected early and eradicated to prevent their establishment and further spread.

Invasive Plant Control, Inc. Coastal Plain Field Office 233 Border Belt Drive Whiteville, NC 28472 USA

Office Phone: 910-648-6762 E-mail: rwestbrooks@

Invasive Plants - Coming to America......

Strategies for Developing New Capacity for Early Detection and Rapid Response to Invasive Plants at Local, State, and National Levels in the United States and Canada

Randy G. Westbrooks, Steven Manning, and Charles T. Bargeron

October 10, 2012

Introduction. Throughout recorded history, as people colonized the Earth, they have taken cultivated plants and domesticated animals along with them. Since European settlement of North America began in the 1500s, over different 50,000 types of plants and animals have been introduced to this continent. While most of these species provide great benefits to human society, a small percentage of them have escaped and pose a threat to food and fiber production, and/or natural ecosystems. To date, about 4,200 species of introduced plants, or about 8.4% of total introductions, have escaped from cultivation and established free-living populations in the United States alone.

Several years ago, scientists at Cornell University estimated that losses to the American economy due to introduced invasive species are now over $138 billion per year. Of this total, costs and losses due to invasive plants are now at least $50 billion per year. Unlike chemical pollutants that can be eliminated from use and will eventually break down in the environment, invasive species can reproduce and spread, causing ever increasing harm. Our biggest challenge is to control established invasive species faster than they can reproduce and spread. Everyone will agree ? we don't need any new ones to have to manage.

Since only about 2% of the U.S. population are now engaged in agriculture or land management, there is much less awareness of this issue than in generations past. So, clearly, land owners and managers, gardeners and horticulturalists, and others who have a strong connection to the land, have a major role to play in ongoing efforts to deal with this `silent ecological explosion'.

Early Detection and Rapid Response ? The Preferred Management Strategy for Addressing New Invasive Species. Currently, there are numerous agencies as well as interagency

groups that are involved with invasive plant management across the United States and Canada ? including State/Regional and Provincial Invasive Species Councils (e.g., the Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council), Invasive Plant Task Forces (e.g., the Beach Vitex Task Force), and Cooperative Weed Management Areas (e.g., the South Fork WMA in Wyoming). Such agencies and groups routinely employ a number of strategies to manage widespread invasive plants through prevention, control, and public outreach. However, it is always a challenge to address new invasive plants - even though Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) is clearly the preferred

Photo Caption: Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) - a new invader from Asia - overrunning primary ocean dunes at DeBordieu Beach near Georgetown, South Carolina.

management strategy for preventing the establishment and spread of new and emerging species.

Implementation of the principles and practices of EDRR for new invasive plants on a single land unit is a rather straightforward process that aims to protect biodiversity and/or the production capacity of the land. This is accomplished by taking steps to contain the infestation, to stop further seed production, and to exhaust the seed reserve in the soil. However, efforts to address new invasive species that occur on multiple land units, and

across multiple jurisdictions, typically require the cooperation of numerous agencies, as well as impacted and potential stakeholders, to be effective. Experience in providing science and technical support to single agency-led federal/state weed eradication programs and projects in the 1980s and early 1990s showed that a cooperative approach for weed prevention is needed ? Local National EDRR Systems for Invasive Plants.

Development of a National EDRR Framework. Development of a U.S. National EDRR System for invasive plants on multiple land units was first discussed as a long range goal by the Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds (FICMNEW) at its first bi-annual program planning retreat in Shepherdstown, WV, in 1998. Since that time, there has been an ongoing effort to develop EDRR capacity at the state and local level across the country.

Conceptually, a National EDRR System is coordinated framework of state, provincial, and local interagency partner groups that work together to increase EDRR capacity through:

- Interagency Coordination (by State, Provincial, and Local Invasive Species Councils and EDRR Committees); - Early Detection and Reporting of suspected new plants to state officials (by trained volunteers and agency field personnel); - ID and Vouchering of suspected new plants (by cooperating botanists and herbaria); - Archival of new plant records in regional and national plant databases - e.g., the U-GA Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System (EDDMapS);

- Rapid Assessment of new plant species for invasiveness (by cooperating scientists); and, - Rapid Response to confirmed new invaders by Local Weed Eradication Projects (on Public and Private Land Units), Single Agency-led Weed Eradication Programs (e.g., the USDA-Carolinas Witchweed Eradication Program), by Invasive Plant Task Forces (eradication of specific new weeds; e.g., the Beach Vitex Task Force); and by Cooperative Weed Management Areas (eradication of weeds within a defined area).

Once fully developed in the U.S. and Canada, the proposed National EDRR Systems for Invasive Plants will provide an important second line of defense against invasive plants across North America. They will also serve to complement federal efforts to prevent unwanted introductions at U.S. and Canadian ports of entry. With both prevention and early detection systems in place, America will be more able to defend against "plants out of place".

The Role of Land Managers and the Public in Addressing New Invasive Plants. Land managers and the public can greatly assist in the effort to prevent the introduction and spread of exotic invasive plants. Here's how.

1. Help Prevent the Problem..... Use native or non-invasive exotic plants for landscaping and restoration projects.

2. Take Action..... Eradicate new invasive plants on lands that you own or manage.

3. Get Involved..... Report unknown plants to state and federal officials.

4. Volunteer..... Help remove invasive species from area parks and public lands.

5. Tell Somebody..... Help raise awareness of the problem.

Contacts

Randy G. Westbrooks,

Charles T. Bargeron

Invasive Species Prevention Specialist

Technology Director and Public Service Assistant

Invasive Plant Control, Inc.

Center for IVS & Ecosystem Health - University of GA

233 Border Belt Drive, Whiteville, NC 28472

2360 Rainwater Road Tifton, GA 31793-5766

Phone: 910-648-6762

Phone: 229-386-3298

E-mail: rwestbrooks@

E-Mail: cbargero@uga.edu

Steven T. Manning, President, Invasive Plant Control, Inc.

PO Box 50556, Nashville, TN 37205

URL:

Office: 615-385-4319 Fax: 615-385-4124

Guidelines for Development of Local EDRR Systems for Invasive Plants on Public and Private Land Units ? Farms, Ranches, Parks, Forests, Refuges, etc.

Randy G. Westbrooks, Steven Manning, and Charles T. Bargeron October 10, 2012

I. Make a Plan......

A. Develop a Land Unit EDRR Work Plan 1. Land Unit EDRR Coordinating Committee 2. Land Unit EDRR Target Species List a. Regulated and Unregulated Species Known/Not Known to Occur in the Land Unit 3. Guidelines for Rapid Assessment and Rapid Response

II. Get Organized......

A. Establish a Land Unit EDRR Committee B. Conduct a Land Unit EDRR System

Development Workshop 1. Finalize the Land Unit EDRR Work Plan C. Develop a Land Unit EDRR System Information System 1. Issue Weed Alerts on Confirmed

New/Emerging Invasive Plants 2. Share the Information with Impacted and Potential Stakeholders

III. Put more Eyes on the Ground......

A. Develop a Land Unit Early Detection and Reporting Network 1. Conduct EDRR Training Workshops for Volunteers and Agency/Industry Field Personnel

B. Conduct Surveys of High Value Natural Resources and Managed Areas to Create an Inventory of Established Invaders and to Detect New Species

IV. Tell Somebody......

A. Submit Specimens of Suspected Invasive Plants to Local Herbaria for Identification

B. Submit Records of Suspected New State/National Invasive Plant Records to Appropriate State Officials and U-GA EDDMapS

C. Maintain Records of Confirmed New Land Unit Exotic/Invasive Plants

V. Conduct Rapid Assessments.........

A. Conduct Rapid Assessments of

Confirmed New Local/State/National Plant Records to Determine a Proper Response

VI. Conduct Rapid Response......

A. Develop a Plan of Action for Eradicating New Invaders based on Rapid Assessment Results

B. Eradicate Confirmed New Local / County / State / National Invasive Plant Infestations, based on Rapid Assessment Results

Contacts

Randy G. Westbrooks, Ph.D. Invasive Species Prevention Specialist Invasive Plant Control, Inc. 233 Border Belt Drive, Whiteville, NC 28472 Phone: 910-648-6762 E-mail: rwestbrooks@

Charles T. Bargeron Technology Director and Public Service Assistant Center for IVS & Ecosystem Health ? Univ. of GA 2360 Rainwater Road Tifton, GA 31793-5766 Phone: 229-386-3298 E-Mail: cbargero@uga.edu

Steven T. Manning, President, Invasive Plant Control, Inc.

PO Box 50556, Nashville, TN 37205

IPC Website:

Office: 615-385-4319 Fax: 615-385-4124

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download