Effects of Invasive Species

The Invasive Species Program determines effects of invasive species and susceptibility of habitats to invasion.  As part of their strategic plan, they strive to:

• Research to provide basic understanding of the biology, ecology and population dynamics of invasive species, including studies to determine species' environmental requirements and tolerances.
• Research on how and why nonindigenous species become invasive including biotic and abiotic factors influencing the lag time between introduction and invasion.
• Research on interacting factors (e.g., fire, erosion and deposition processes, atmospheric and climatological stresses, chemical pollution, land use changes, and management practices) that facilitate invasion of a particular species or taxonomic group in U.S. ecosystems.
• Research on factors influencing species invasiveness to facilitate risk assessment and screening of potential new invaders.
• Research to determine the individual and cumulative effects of invasive species on ecosystem processes and native species (Note: invasive species must be the primary factor under study. Research on interacting factors in ecosystem processes should be included in the Ecosystems Program).

Below is a sampling of research conducted in USGS Science Centers that deal with Effects of Invasive Species:

• Are Exotic Species a Source or a Sink for Nutrients Between Nearshore and Deepwater Biota? - (Principle Investigator: Susan J Nichols, GLSC)
  
  
• Arid Sagebrush Task of a Regional Experiment to Evaluate Effects of Fire and Fire Surrogate Treatments in the Sagebrush Biome - (Principle Investigator: David Pyke, FRESC)
  
  
• Biocomplexity of introduced avian diseases in Hawaii: Threats to biodiversity of native forest ecosystems - Bird Food Ecology subproject - (Principle Investigator: Paul Banko, PIERC)
  
  
• Brown Treesnake Research Strategies - (Principle Investigator: Gordon Rodda, FORT)
  
  
• Characterization and Development of Repellant and Attractant Pheromones to Control Invasive Bighead and Silver Carp - (Principle Investigator: Ed Little, CERC)
  
  
• Cichlid fishes of the Southeastern United States: Identification, Distribution, and Environmental Considerations - (Principle Investigator: Howard Jelks, FISC)
  
  
• Coordinated Intermountain Restoration Project - (Principle Investigator: David Pyke, FRESC)
  
  
• Determinants of Native and Invasive Riparian Plant Distributions - (Principle Investigator: Johnathan Friedman, FORT)
  
  
• Determine limiting factors of rare and endangered plant species of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - (Principle Investigator: Linda Pratt, PIERC)
  
  
• Develop New Strategies to Manage Mouflon in Hawaii - (Principle Investigator: Steve Hess, PIERC)
  
  
• Developing New Strategies to Manage Mouflon (Ovis musimon) in Hawaii - (Principle Investigator: Steve Hess, PIERC)
  
  
• Development of Molecular Diagnostic Systems for Microbial, Plant, and Animal Species in Ballast Water to Study the Introduction, Ecological Impacts and Invasiveness of Non-indigenous Communities - (Principle Investigator: Russel Rodriguez, WFRC)
  
  
• Development of Tools to Assess Nutria Population Densities, Movements, and Life History Characteristics - (Principle Investigator: Jacoby Carter, NWRC)
  
  
• Documenting, Mapping, and Predicting Invasive Plants, Animals, and Diseases in the United States - (Principle Investigator: Tom Stohlgren, FORT)
  
  
• Early Warning for High-risk Incipient Invasive Species - (Principle Investigator: Lloyd Loope, PIERC)
  
  
• Ecological Characteristics to Differentiate Between Koloa and Mallard-koloa Hybrids - (Principle Investigator: Michelle Reynolds, PIERC)
  
  
• Ecological Effects of Non-Native Fish Introductions in Voyageurs National Park - (Principle Investigator: Larry Kallemeyn, CERC)
  
  
• Ecological Impacts of Non-Native Asian Carp in the Lower Missouri River Ecosystem - (Principle Investigator: Duane Chapman, CERC)
  
  
• The Effects of Alien Plant Invasions and Fire on Native Plants and Animals in Mojave and Sonoran Desert Scrub Communities - (Principle Investigator: Todd Esque, WERC)
  
  
• Estimation of Ecosystem-level Effects and Evaluation of Potential Control Methods for the Asian Swamp Eel (Family: Synbranchidae, Genus: Monopterus) - (Principle Investigator: Leo Nico, FISC)
  
  
• Evaluating Options for Vegetation Recovery following Catastrophic Fire - Grand Canyon/Parashant - (Principle Investigator: Todd Esque, WERC)
  
  
• Evaluating Postfire Seeding Treatments Designed to Suppress Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) in Ponderosa Pine Forests on the Colorado Plateau - (Principle Investigator: Matt Brooks, WERC)
  
  
• Evaluating the Effects of Pinyon Juniper Thinning Treatments at a Wildland/Urban Interface - (Principle Investigator: Matt Brooks, WERC)
  
  
• Experimental Treatments to Eradicate or Control Buffelgrass at Saguaro National Park - (Principle Investigator: Todd Esque, WERC)
  
  
• Fire and Invasive Annual Grasses in Western Ecosystems - (Principle Investigator: Matt Brooks, WERC)
  
  
• Food Ecology and Bird Restoration - (Principle Investigator: Paul Banko, PIERC)
  
  
• Genetics of Invasive Species - (Principle Investigator: Anne Henderson, LSC)
  
  
• Habitat Invasibility and Species Invasiveness - (Principle Investigator: Qinfeng Guo)
  
  
• Impacts of Feral Pigs on Invertebrate Biodiversity in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - (Principle Investigator: David Foote, PIERC)
  
  
• Integrated Restoration Strategies Towards Weed Control on Western Rangelands - (Principle Investigator: David Pyke, FRESC)
  
  
• Interactions of Climate Change and Other Environmental Factors on Invasive Plant Infestation in the Arid West - (Principle Investigator: Gregor Auble, FORT)
  
  
• Invasive Plants in the Great Plains and Upper Midwest - (Principle Investigator: Diane Larson, NPWRC)
  
  
• Invasive Potential of Fountaingrass (Pennisetum setaceum) in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada - (Principle Investigator: Lesley Defalco, WERC)
  
  
• Invasive Species in the upper Mississippi River - (Principle Investigator: Jeff Rach, UMESC)
  
  
• Investigating Ecological Impacts of the Kalij Pheasant - (Principle Investigator: Thane Pratt, PIERC)
  
  
• Koa Community Ecology: the Effects and Effectiveness of Landscape-scale Management of Alien Mammals - (Principle Investigator: Steve Hess, PIERC)
  
  
• Koa Community Ecology: Food Webs, Arthropod Communities, and Bird Communities - (Principle Investigator: Paul Banko, PIERC)
  
  
• Koa Community Ecology: Mapping and Assessing the Status of Koa Forest Communities on the Islands of Maui, Moloka`i, and Kaua`i - (Principle Investigator: Jim Jacobi, PIERC)
  
  
• Managing Biological Invasions: Moving from Control to Coexistence - (Principle Investigator: David Pyke, FRESC)
  
  
• Modeling Nutria Population Dynamics, Movement and Marsh Impact - (Principle Investigator: Jacoby Carter, NWRC)
  
  
• Neotropical Migrants along the Colorado River Biosphere - (Principle Investigator: Charles Van Riper, SBSC)
  
  
• Nutria Population Dynamics, Movement, and Life History in the Chesapeake Bay Region - (Principle Investigator: Jacoby Carter, NWRC)
  
  
• Nutria Population Estimates - (Principle Investigator: Steven Travis, NWRC)
  
  
• Palila Restoration - (Principle Investigator: Paul Banko, PIERC)
  
  
• Postfire Control of Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) at a Sagebrush Steppe Site - (Principle Investigator: Matt Brooks, WERC)
  
  
• Potential Biological Invasions Associated with Interbasin Water Transfers - (Principle Investigator: Greg Linder, CERC)
  
  
• Pre-fire fuel Manipulation Impacts on Alien Plant Invasion of Wildlands - (Principle Investigator: Jon Keeley, WERC)
  
  
• Protocols for NPS Pacific Network for Early Detection for Incipient Invasive Species: Plants and Invertebrates - (Principle Investigator: Lloyd Loope, PIERC)
  
  
• Rare Plant Research for DOI Client agencies:Channel Islands, California (NPS, USFWS); Great Lakes (NPS, USFWS); Mojave Desert (USFWS) - (Principle Investigator: Kathryn Mceachern, WERC)
  
  
• Reducing Feral Cat Threats to Native Wildlife in Hawaii - (Principle Investigator: Steve Hess, PIERC)
  
  
• Reducing Wildfire Risk by Integration of Prescribed Burning and Biological Control of Invasive Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) - (Principle Investigator: Matt Brooks, WERC)
  
  
• Responses of Introduced and Native Vegetation in the Mojave Desert to Elevated Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide - (Principle Investigator: Lesley Defalco, WERC)
  
  
• Round Gobies (Neogobius melanstomus) in Lake Huron Offshore: Diets, Population Dynamics, and Impacts on Benthic Fauna - (Principle Investigator: John French, PWRC)
  
  
• Sea Lamprey Control - (Principle Investigator: Roger Bergstedt, GLSC)
  
  
• Understanding Fire Ecology and Developing a Fire Management Plan for Upland Habitats on Mauna Kea, Hawaii - (Principle Investigator: Jim Jacobi, PIERC)
  
  
• Use of Molecular Tools for the Genetic Analyses of Native and Invasive Species and Disease Organisms in Hawaii and Pacific Island Trust Territories - (Principle Investigator: Carter Atkinson, PIERC)
  
  
• Wetland Invaders: Life History in Native versus Invasive Environments - (Principle Investigator: Beth Middleton, NWRC)
  
  
• Zebra and Quagga Mussels in Lake Michigan Offshore: Monitoring Dreissenid Mussel Populations and Assessing Impacts of Mussels on Benthic Prey Fishes - (Principle Investigator: Susan J Nichols, GLSC)