Development of a National Early Detection and Rapid Response System for Invasive Plants in the United States

Control costs and losses due to invasive plants in the United States are now about $50 billion per year. Part of the problem is that new and emerging species are not detected and address until they are widespread and out of control. What is needed is a systematic approach for detection, reporting, rapid assessment, and rapid response to new invasive plants.

USGS BRD is cooperating with a number of interagency groups to develop a National Early Detection and Rapid Response System for Invasive Plants in the United States - a coordinated framework of interagency partners to promote EDRR as the preferred management strategy for addressing new and emerging invasive plants in the United States.

Key elements of the system include:
- Regional Invasive Plant Atlases (Volunteer Training, Data Archival and Synthesis)
- State Invasive Species Councils (Interagency Coordination for Invasive Species),
- State EDRR Coordinating Committees (ID, Vouchering, and rapid assessment of new invaders),
- State Volunteer Detection and Reporting Networks (Data Collection by Trained Volunteers and Agency Field Personnel),
- Cooperative Weed Management Areas and Task Forces (On-the-ground action against new and emerging invasive plants).
- Science and Technical Support (Ecological Niche Modeling by the USGS BRD National Institute of Invasive Species Science; Onsite and Distant Technical Support by the USGS National Wetlands Research Center).

In 1997, USGS BRD began cooperating with USDA APHIS and other agencies to provide technical support for establishment of interagency partnerships to encourage invasive plant prevention. One major product of this effort was the Weed Fact Book - 'Invasive Plants, Changing the Landscape of America', which was published in 1998. The first National EDRR Planning Workshop was hosted by USGS and USDA at the USGS Ft. Collins Science Center in 2000. Following the workshop, the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) was established in 2001. To date, over 750 volunteers have been trained by IPANE - the first regional atlas under the National EDRR System for Invasive Plants. A conceptual design plan for the National EDRR System was developed and published in 2003. Over the past seven years, a number of State and Provincial Invasive Species Councils have been established, including groups in CT, NY, DE, MD, PA, WV, NC, SC, TN, MS, NE, WY, CO, AZ, IK, BC, and AL. Progress in addressing new invasive plants is being made by a number of task forces under the National EDRR System, including the North Carolina Giant Salvinia Task Force, the Carolinas Beach Vitex Task Force, the Caddo Lake (LA and TX) Giant Salvinia Task Force, and the Washington State Crupina Task Force. In early 2007, a weed risk assessment of Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) was completed and submitted to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the Clemson University Plant Industry Department for listing Beach Vitex as a State Noxious Weed in both states.

The second edition of the Weed Fact Book will be published in 2008.

Over the next two years, USGS will provide onsite and distant technical support for establishment of State EDRR Coordinating Committees in a number of states and provinces, including CT, NC, SC, MS, NE, WY, SD, MT, ID, UT, and Alberta. In support of this effort, USGS will cooperate with the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England and Mississippi State University to develop EDRR Guidelines for volunteer training, rapid assessment, rapid response, and partnership development.

In addition, USGS will cooperate with Mississippi State University to establish a second regional atlas - the Invasive Plant Atlas of the Mid-South. The Alaska Committee for Noxious and Invasive Plant Management (CNIPM) is also interested in establishing a similar atlas in their state.

	Contact: Randy G. Westbrooks USGS BRD, National Wetlands Research Center 233 Border Belt Drive Whiteville, NC 28472 Phone: 910-648-6762 rwestbrooks@usgs.gov Websites: Carolinas Beach Vitex Task Force Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) A National Early Detection and Rapid Response System for Invasive Plants in the United States -- (PDF--download a free copy of Adobe Reader)