Invasive Species

Overview

Their name says it all -- invasive species. A plant or animal invades a place where it isn't supposed to be and upsets the balance of nature. The mystery is how these invaders get to their new homes. Often, humans move them around either intentionally or they travel with us as unwelcome hitchhikers.

Whether they arrive by ship, airplane, automobile or in packages we mail, there are thousands of opportunities every day for unwanted organisms to enter the United States. Modern transportation makes it possible for insects, fungal spores, seeds or numerous other hitchhikers to move from their native lands to the U.S. in just hours. The U.S. government spends hundreds of millions of dollars to keep unwanted plants and animals out. But the odds are against us.

From herbicide resistant pigweed to Asiatic soybean rust, boll weevils to kudzu, invasive species are a prevalent and persistent problem in Georgia. Fighting these unwanted interlopers costs farmers, local governments and the state millions each year. The UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is working to combat this problem from all angles.

Publications

Commercial and Professional Publications

• UGA Programs for Controlling Palmer Amaranth in 2013 Cotton
• The Biology and Ecology of Palmer Amaranth: Implications for Control

General Publications

• Management of Pest Insects In and Around the Home
• The Truth about Slime Molds, Spanish Moss, Lichens and Mistletoe

To see other publications, go to the CAES Publications site or the FACS Publications listing.

News

For the latest news about Extension, visit Georgia FACES. News you can use about Georgia family, agricultural, consumer and enviromental sciences.

• Heading out to the woods? Please leave your firewood at home
• Sustainable farming pioneer to speak at UGA Nov. 8
• Unwelcome guest: The European Pepper Moth arrives in Georgia
• Goats and sheep are great for clearing out unwanted brush
• 'Bah' team takes bite out of nasty invasive plant
• Need to identify a python? There's an “app” for that
• Spring is best time to discover invasive cogongrass
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife proposes ban of constrictor snakes
• UGA center to use educational videos to help safeguard U.S. agriculture

Websites

UGA-affiliated sites

• Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
  Offers a primer on invasive species concerns, an extensive catalog of these species, publications, maps of species' ranges, instructional videos and text, suggestions for detection control, description of management area programs and links.
• Invasive Species Hot Topics
  Catalogs invasive species news stories.

External sites

• National Invasive Species Information Center
  Offers a catalog of invasive species viewable by geography or classification.