Contact: Sylvan Kaufman, Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council | Sylvan.Kaufman@gmail.com ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 1, 2015) – Porcelainberry vine was a popular ornamental plant with its beautiful multicolored fruits, but it has become a thug in backyards, urban parks, and natural areas across Maryland. The Maryland Invasive Species Council (MISC) has chosen Porcelainberry as October’s “Invader of […]
Contact: Kerrie L. Kyde, Maryland DNR | Kerrie.Kyde@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 1, 2015) – Exotic earthworm species in the eastern U.S. provide an additional stressor for mature and successional forests already affected by disturbance, climate change, invasive insect pests and diseases, and overabundant white-tailed deer. Where native earthworm species were extirpated due to glaciation, or […]
Contacts: Meghan Fellows, MNCPPC | meghan.fellows@montgomeryparks.org Carolyn Puckett, Lead, Carroll County Weed Warriors | cpuck@comcast.net Anne Goodman, Volunteer Coordinator, Rockville Native Species Network | communitywildlifehabitat@gmail.com Matt Salo, Naturalist, Town of Cheverly | mtsalo1@gmail.com ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 4, 2015) – Take a look around your local natural area. What do you see? Hopefully, there is a healthy […]
White Nose Syndrome Fungus – Pseudogymnoascus destructans* Contact: Dana Limpert, Conservation Specialist, MD Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service | DanaL.LIMPERT@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 1, 2015) – White nose syndrome (WNS or PD, Pseudogymnoascus destructans*) was first confirmed in Maryland bat overwintering hibernacula in 2010. The disease has been documented in all major […]
Contact: Matthew Ashton, Maryland Department of Natural Resources | 410‑260‑8604 | matthew.ashton@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 1, 2015) – Named for its distinct dark and light striped shell, the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is a small, triangular freshwater bivalve mollusk that attaches to hard surfaces with hairs called byssus. Like many other nuisance species, zebra mussels are prolific […]
Contacts: Dave Clement, University of Maryland Extension | clement@umd.edu Karen Rane, University of Maryland Plant Diagnostic Lab | rane@umd.edu ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 10, 2014) – Thousand cankers disease (TCD) is a disease complex first discovered in the western United States that primarily affects black walnut (Juglans nigra). This disease is the result of the combined […]
Contact: Kerrie Kyde, Maryland DNR Natural Heritage Program | Kerrie.Kyde@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 9, 2014) – A new invasive vine related to grapes has appeared in Maryland. Like its cousin porcelainberry, bushkiller (Cayratia japonica) is a perennial vine with tendrils that allow it to climb up and over other vegetation. Bushkiller earns its murderous name […]
Contact: Marc Imlay, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) | Chair, Bio-Control Working Group of the Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council (MAIPC) | Cell: (301) 442-5657 | ialm@erols.com ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 1, 2014) Our tool kit for successful control of non-native invasive plants includes preventing new invasive species from coming in from Europe, Asia, and other continents; manual […]
Contact: Stanton Gill, IPM and Entomology Specialist, University of Maryland Extension | Sgill@umd.edu | http://extension.umd.edu/ipm ELLICOTT CITY, MD (October 1, 2013). Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, is an invasive, destructive pest, originating from Southeast Asia. It has recently been found in Maryland infesting blackberries and raspberries. SWD’s appearance in Maryland is why the Maryland […]
Contact: Ronald Klauda, Maryland DNR | 410-260-8615 | rklauda@dnr.state.md.us ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 15, 2013) – The zebra mussel, a small freshwater mollusk native to southern Russia and the Caspian Sea, was first discovered in North America in June 1988, in Lake St. Clair. Since this inadvertent introduction, zebra mussels have spread as far west in […]