TEXASINVASIVES.ORG is a product of the Pulling Together Initiative (PTI), a
partnership to manage non-native invasive plants and animals. The PTI provides information about
identification and management of invasive plants, establishes locations for
invasive plant demonstration areas, and, through a statewide conference,
facilitates information sharing about non-native invasive plants. The website
provides invasive species news, information on the 2009 conference on Invasive
Species of Texas, information on Invaders of Texas Citizen Science program,
databased information, publications, and links to other sites.
* Invasive Species of Texas. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2002.
Contents:
-What’s Happening in Texas - A
Problem on the Upswing
-How Do We Bring Invasive Species
to Texas?
-How Much Do Invasives Cost
Texans?
-What’s At Stake? - Special
Landscapes, Habitats, & Species of Texas
-The Worst of the Worst
-Finding Solutions: Who Deals
With Invasive Species in Texas?
-Invasive Species in Texas
* Invaders of Texas: A Citizen Science Program To Detect and
Report Invasive Species
Do you want to help slow down the spread of harmful invasive species and
reduce their ecological and economic damage?
The first step is to locate where invaders have arrived and get that
information to those who can do something about it. Citizen scientists are volunteers who receive expert training to
identify and track important invaders in our area.
* THE QUIET INVASION: A Guide to Invasive Plants of the Galveston Bay Area
A web-based field guide, covering 42 species, for homeowners, land
managers, and gardening enthusiasts living in the Lower Galveston Bay
Watershed. Included are color photos
and physical descriptions of each species for identification, preferred
habitats, geographic distribution, reproduction and growth characteristics,
pathways of introduction, methods of control, and native plant alternatives to
be found at or requested from home gardening centers.
IDENTIFICATION
* Resources for
identification of Texas weeds
Many useful links for identification of Texas weeds. Lots of photographs, with related links and
publications. From the Texas Weed
Information Group at Texas A&M
University.
All specimens from Texas in the University of Texas herbarium are databased
and included. Extremely useful for an
overview of the range of all species occurring in the state (native and
non-native). The Plant Resources
Center, University of Texas. This and the Invaders of Texas Database are the only two
online resources that provide documented locality information for the plants of
Texas.
* Non-native
Woody Plants of Arkansas
An excellent resource, with lots of detailed photos and original
commentary, on 74 woody invasives known to be “naturalized” in Arkansas, 30
known to be “spontaneous,” and 18 more with the potential to become spontaneous
or naturalized there. Highly useful for Texans. Created and often updated by
Brett Serviss at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
* Nonnative
Invasive Plants of Southern Forests
A Field Guide
for Identification and Control
J. H. Miller. 2003. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research
Station
An excellent resource for “information on accurate identification and effective control of
the 33 plants or groups that are invading the forests of the 13 Southern
States.” All online.
BROADER AREA
National perspective and data -- excellent photos, descriptions, and
summaries of biology for many non-native species, with good links and related
publications. EDDMapS provides
up-to-date county-level distribution maps based on data from a variety of
sources.
The Center
for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health -- a joint project of The University of Georgia's Bugwood Network, USDA Forest
Service, and USDA APHIS PPQ, coordinated by The Nature Conservancy.
A
set of links at the USDA PLANTS web site.
* An Inventory and Analysis of the Alien Plant Flora of New
Mexico
390 non-native plant species are listed here for the state. "Since publication of the first state
flora, the number of alien plants has increased from 136 in 1915 to 390 in
2000." G.W. Cox. 2001. The New Mexico Botanist 17:1-7.
* Non-native species for Oklahoma,
Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Under development in each of these states.
* Malezas de Mexico (Weeds of Mexico)
http://www.conabio.gob.mx/malezasdemexico/2inicio/home-malezas-mexico.htm
This site aims to help both
botanists and non-botanists identify Mexican plants of disturbed places (i.e.
weeds) and to find information about them. We hope it will eventually contain:
* good quality, vouchered
photographs of the approximately 3000 weed species estimated for Mexico;
* descriptions, conventional and
interactive keys, and other support for the identification of these plants;
* a summary of useful
information on the species in a blog-like fact sheet, including a guide to
reliable and relevant sites on the net;
* an opportunity for information
exchange and collaboration between interested people, both scientists and
laypersons.
At
present the site contains photos and factsheets for over 700 species, mainly
from the south-center of the country. New species will be added twice or three
times a year.
Several very significant publications on
invasive species in Mexico have been published.
* The
Weeds of Mexico website, two years after its first publication
[El sitio web Malezas de México a dos años de su primera publicación].
“The
Spanish-language Weeds of Mexico website project was initiated in 2000. The first version was published in April
2006 at www.malezasdemexico. net with photographs and factsheets for 450
species; another 400 species had followed by October 2007. Today, the site receives about 200
pageviews/species/ month (the large and multilingual site Fishbase has about
800 pageviews/species/month). The
distribution of the pageviews shows that content (number of species in
website/per family/level of coverage) drives use, together with placement in
Google, and time. A cost-benefit
analysis under Mexican conditions, considering only time saved for information
procurement, shows an amortization in terms of public benefit within 1–2
years.”
* The
alien flowering plants of Mexico.
2004. Villaseñor, J.L. and F.J.
Espinosa-García. Diversity and
Distributions 10: 113-123.
* Geographical
patterns in native and exotic weeds of Mexico. 2004.
Espinosa-García, F.J., J.L. Villaseñor, and H. Vibrans. Weed Technology 18: 1552-1558 Suppl. S.
* Biocontrol of Weeds in Texas
An overview of information about
weeds in Texas and the available biological control management programs. The focus of the site is to identify each
weed, provide history and research background on it, and present the status of
biological control programs. From the Dept. of Entomology, Texas A&M University.
Useful information from TP&WD on managing aquatic vegetation, including
lots of non-natives. “Texas Parks and Wildlife Department focuses on stands of plants
that directly affect the health and recreational use of those resources and
works with other organizations to develop treatment measures that minimize harm
to the environment.”
* Finding Solutions: Protecting Our Nation’s Waters
A brief commentary
(undated) on the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act (NAISA, Aug 2002) as it
relates to Texas. From the
Union of Concerned Scientists.
* The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act
”The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (H.R. 669) would provide the
Department of Interior with the necessary legal tools to better prevent further
introduction of potentially and already harmful non-native wildlife. It would
fundamentally change federal policy to better protect the nation.” From the Union of Concerned Scientists.
* An Action Plan on Invasive Species for President Obama and
the 111th Congress
”The impacts of invasive species go well beyond a local
site or a single state. Countless expert reports from public and private groups
have brought attention to these impacts and called for federal action to
address invasive species problems. To date, progress has been woefully
inadequate. However, there are opportunities to act.” From the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Last update: 5 Jan 2010