Effects of Invasive Species

The Invasive Species Program determines effects of invasive species and susceptibility of habitats to invasion.  As part of their strategic plan, they strive to:

• Research to provide basic understanding of the biology, ecology and population dynamics of invasive species, including studies to determine species' environmental requirements and tolerances.
• Research on how and why nonindigenous species become invasive including biotic and abiotic factors influencing the lag time between introduction and invasion.
• Research on interacting factors (e.g., fire, erosion and deposition processes, atmospheric and climatological stresses, chemical pollution, land use changes, and management practices) that facilitate invasion of a particular species or taxonomic group in U.S. ecosystems.
• Research on factors influencing species invasiveness to facilitate risk assessment and screening of potential new invaders.
• Research to determine the individual and cumulative effects of invasive species on ecosystem processes and native species (Note: invasive species must be the primary factor under study. Research on interacting factors in ecosystem processes should be included in the Ecosystems Program).

Below is a sampling of research conducted in USGS Science Centers that deal with Effects of Invasive Species:

• Are Exotic Species a Source or a Sink for Nutrients Between Nearshore and Deepwater Biota? - (Principle Investigator: Susan J Nichols, GLSC)
  
  
• Arid Sagebrush Task of a Regional Experiment to Evaluate Effects of Fire and Fire Surrogate Treatments in the Sagebrush Biome - (Principle Investigator: David Pyke, FRESC)
  
  
• Biocomplexity of introduced avian diseases in Hawaii: Threats to biodiversity of native forest ecosystems - Bird Food Ecology subproject - (Principle Investigator: Paul Banko, PIERC)
  
  
• Brown Treesnake Research Strategies - (Principle Investigator: Gordon Rodda, FORT)
  
  
• Cichlid fishes of the Southeastern United States: Identification, Distribution, and Environmental Considerations - (Principle Investigator: Howard Jelks, FISC)
  
  
• Coordinated Intermountain Restoration Project - (Principle Investigator: David Pyke, FRESC)
  
  
• Determinants of Native and Invasive Riparian Plant Distributions - (Principle Investigator: Johnathan Friedman, FORT)
  
  
• Documenting, Mapping, and Predicting Invasive Plants, Animals, and Diseases in the United States - (Principle Investigator: Tom Stohlgren, FORT)
  
  
• Estimation of Ecosystem-level Effects and Evaluation of Potential Control Methods for the Asian Swamp Eel (Family: Synbranchidae, Genus: Monopterus) - (Principle Investigator: Leo Nico, FISC)
  
  
• Evaluating the Effects of Pinyon Juniper Thinning Treatments at a Wildland/Urban Interface - (Principle Investigator: Matt Brooks, WERC)
  
  
• Fire and Invasive Annual Grasses in Western Ecosystems - (Principle Investigator: Matt Brooks, WERC)
  
  
• Impact of Invasive Species on Resident Aquatic Species at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area - (Principle Investigator: Richard B. Bury, FRESC)
  
  
• Integrated Restoration Strategies Towards Weed Control on Western Rangelands - (Principle Investigator: David Pyke, FRESC)