Invasive Species Strike Team

[dogg57]

Not so sure this is a good thing or not.
Strike Team is a statewide cooperative effort with a mission to prevent the spread of emerging invasive species across the state of New Jersey. Started in 2008 as the Central Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team, the project has now expanded statewide and consists of over 80 public and private partner organizations representing all levels of government from federal to municipal, non-profit conservation groups and consulting foresters.

New Jersey is home to 2,000 native plants, 327 migrant & resident birds, 90 mammals, 44 reptiles, 35 amphibians, 421 marine & freshwater fish, 180 damseflies & dragonflies and 151 butterflies. This list includes 424 threatened and endangered species, some which are globally imperilled. This abundant biodiversity is a result of extremely diverse habitats, stretching from the Highlands, through the Piedmont, into the Pinelands, a globally unique ecosystem, and through the shore regions.
http://www.njisst.org/

 

[Jersey Jeff]

Just look around at the fields of Japanese knotweed or Nepalese stiltgrass that grows just about everywhere on the East Coast and has crowded out native species. Unfortunately, the deer don't eat the stuff. I wish they did....it may solve some of the problem.

If the Asian Longhorned Beetle ever got loose in the pines, it would devastate the maple trees there. The beetles don't like oaks or pitch pines.

 

[GermanG]

Ocean County Parks is in the process of forming a partnership with the strike team. Their efforts so far have focused mainly on the central and northern parts of the state due to the limited resources available to them. They are trying to deal less with widespread invasive species that already have gained a strong foothold than they are species which are newer or less widely spread and easier to control. Deer have definitely been found to be a major player in invasive plant distribution. Study plots in several areas infested with invasive plants have had fences installed to keep deer out. The plots rebounded back to a more natural situation, with the natives out-competing the invasive plants.

 

[Gibby]

Ocean County Parks is in the process of forming a partnership with the strike team. Their efforts so far have focused mainly on the central and northern parts of the state due to the limited resources available to them. They are trying to deal less with widespread invasive species that already have gained a strong foothold than they are species which are newer or less widely spread and easier to control. Deer have definitely been found to be a major player in invasive plant distribution. Study plots in several areas infested with invasive plants have had fences installed to keep deer out. The plots rebounded back to a more natural situation, with the natives out-competing the invasive plants.

GermanG, is there any chance that the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris will impact any of the rich soil corridors in Pine Barrens, like it has in New York state? Are there any indications that damage from escaped or released worms is already occurring?

 

[GermanG]

GermanG, is there any chance that the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris will impact any of the rich soil corridors in Pine Barrens, like it has in New York state? Are there any indications that damage from escaped or released worms is already occurring?

I have to admit that I'm not even familiar with the species or the problems it's causing elsewhere. I'll have to read up on that. Most of my work involves environmental education and outdoor recreation programs and if a problem isn't immediately effecting or threatening our properties I do not end up having to deal with it. I guess the above-ground and more visible problems such as pine beetles tend to get more attention than those lurking below.

 

[Gibby]

I have to admit that I'm not even familiar with the species or the problems it's causing elsewhere. I'll have to read up on that. Most of my work involves environmental education and outdoor recreation programs and if a problem isn't immediately effecting or threatening our properties I do not end up having to deal with it. I guess the above-ground and more visible problems such as pine beetles tend to get more attention than those lurking below.

Over the past winter I took an invasive species class to earn credits to keep my DEP license current and was surprised to learn that earthworms are a large problem in the Northeast. The short story is European earthworms, such as L. terrestris or L. rebellus and Asian earthworms, such as Amynthas agrestis, strip the forest floor of all available nutrients, stopping all new growth. All that is left is the canopy of mature growth. Most of the worms are introduced by fisherman dumping worms that aren't used for bait or from the worms escaping from their holding container. It sounds like a simple problem but the results from the consumption of rich leaf layers of the forest floor are devastating. A barren forest floor is all that can be seen in some areas.

 

[GermanG]

Well that's another reason for flyfishermen like myself to look down on worm-dunkers.