Wherever you are on your naturalist journey, we are looking for people who want to be LIFERs — LIISMA Invasive Finders and Early Reporters, that is. We are hoping to cultivate a community of folks who want to assist in looking for invasive species throughout the LIISMA region; not only to add knowledge to our existing database of invasive species, but to also connect like minded invasive species spotters to LIISMA and to each other.
In late November through early December, as most insects and plants head into a period of dormancy, the aptly named winter moth (Operophtera brumata) awakens from the soil. Native to Northern and Central Europe, they have been accidentally introduced several times to eastern North America since the 1930’s, where their larvae have been found defoliating our deciduous trees, preferentially oaks, maples and cherries.
By Bill Jacobs, LIISMA Program Manager In late October, Region 1 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) fisheries staff member Francis McParland discovered an infestation of creeping water … Read more
Knowing that almost 40% of the invasive plants now in the US were brought in initially as horticultural plants, it’s no surprise that LIISMA has an astonishing number of tier 5 invasive plants (460 according to our records). If you’re not familiar with the New York State PRISM tier ranking system for invasive species prioritization, a tier 5 invasive species is one that is already found in a given area, but requires more information on its spread and ecological impact. Two such plants on this section of the tier list are tea Viburnum (Viburnum setigerum) and linden viburnum (Viburnum dilatatum).
Our staff were amused that “updating the LIISMA website” has been an item on our checklist for the past 5 years. Each year we made a little progress, but this time we took that update a step (or more like a leap) farther; we completely redesigned the site from top to bottom, in-house, with visitors like you in mind.
By Abby Bezrutczyk, LIISMA Field Project and Outreach Coordinator — Have you seen any hemlock trees recently? Although New York State has the most hemlock trees in the US, eastern … Read more
We’re excited to host an educational movie night for “Uninvited,” a new hour-long documentary from NYSDEC about their work against invasive species in New York State. Grab your friends and … Read more
LIISMA recently approved six invasive species subcontracts with funding from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). EPF is administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. … Read more
By: Abby Bezrutczyk Back in July, we found an unwelcome guest in a coastal plain pond within Sears Bellows County Park. As part of our monitoring for invasive species in … Read more
The month of September is still prime field season for the LIISMA team! We continued to survey and monitor for emerging invasive species, such as Arthraxon hispidus in Westhampton. This … Read more
