Southwest Exotic Plant Mapping Project (SWEMP)/Southwest Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse (SWEPIC)

Weed managers, be they concerned citizens, land managers, or policy makers, require up-to-date information on invasive plant distributions in order to develop and implement management strategies. SWEMP provides a yearly compilation of invasive plant observations in the southwest as submitted by collaborators. This regional database is distributed on the SWEPIC web site.

As the organizational infrastructure dealing with invasive species in the southwest has developed, SWEMP has continued to serve a role in providing needed distribution information. With continued sophistication of technology and of the invasive species organization infrastructure, the potential exists for developing a linked local, regional, and national invasive species information network. SWEMP would like to play a role in the development of a well designed information system that addresses the data collection, management and distribution needs of clients at multiple levels.

The SWEMP 2007 regional database will be available on the SWEPIC web site in late spring of 2007. The 2007 regional database reports occurrences of 221 invasive plants in six states with 62,000 individual records.  Maps of select species by county, weed management area, and 7.5 quad will be published in a web-available open-file report.

Continuation of SWEMP yearly regional database updates and development of a more complete and efficient information system architecture are dependent upon funding.

	Contact: Kathryn Thomas USGS Southwest Biological Science Center Sonoran Desert Research Station, 125 Biological Sciences East University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85716 Kathryn_a_thomas@usgs.gov Website: Southwest Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse