Contact: Jonathan McKnight, Associate Director for Habitat Conservation for the DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service | JMcKnight@dnr.state.md.us ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 1, 2009) – In 2004, Chris Griffin shot and killed a big feral hog on a plantation in Alapaha Georgia. He told his friends that it was 12 feet long and weighed 1,000 pounds. Word of […]
Contact: Ruth Hanessian | animalexchange@verizon.net ANNAPOLIS, MD (November 2, 2009) – Perhaps. It’s up to you to ensure that Fluffy the cat, Frodo your pet frog and his aquatic hydrilla plant do not become one of the many non-native species that have become established and invasive in Maryland. In some cases, these non-native species are competing […]
Contact: D. L. Clement (clement@umd.edu) or K. K. Rane (rane@umd.edu), University of Maryland Extension, or G. Moorman (gmoorman@psu.edu), Penn State University ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 5, 2009) – Elm yellows is a systemic disease of elms caused by a bacteria-like organism called a phytoplasma. The disease has been reported sporadically in Maryland for many years. Outbreaks are […]
Contact: K. L. Kyde, Maryland Department of Natural Resources | kerrie.kyde@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 12, 2009) – August and September are the months when Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) blooms in Maryland. This Asian perennial, which dies back each year but can grow to more than 10 feet tall in a single season, resembles a shrub, but […]
Contact: Kristine Averill, Cornell University | kma25@cornell.eduToni DiTommaso, Cornell University | ad97@cornell.edu ANNAPOLIS, MD (August 5, 2009) – Vincetoxicum nigrum and V. rossicum (black and pale swallow-wort or dog-strangling vines) are two vines causing concern for natural and disturbed areas in Maryland. The swallow-worts, cousins of the milkweeds, threaten agricultural lands, terrestrial ecosystems, and native plant and animal species. Their roots […]
Contact: Carol Holko, MDA | 410-841-5920 or holkoca@mda.state.md.us ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 8, 2009) – The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis) is a damaging exotic insect pest that poses a serious threat to many species of deciduous hardwood trees such as maple, elm, willow, birch, horsechestnut, and poplar. The beetle larvae harm trees by feeding under the […]
Contact: Mark Lewandowski, MD DNR, Tidewater Ecosystem Assessment | mlewandowski@dnr.state.md.us ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 5, 2009) – Many of the tributaries, reservoirs and lakes in Maryland have extensive populations of the submerged aquatic plant Hydrilla(Hydrilla verticillata), sometimes called waterthyme. It is distributed all over the world, though it is native to Korea and India. It can flourish in […]
Contact: Lane Heimer, MDA | 410-841-5920 ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 1, 2009) – The mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) has always been appreciated by homeowners and gardeners for its wonderful fragrant, showy flowers, delicate leaves and draping canopy. First brought to the United States around 1745 as an ornamental tree, it has now become a troublesome invasive […]
Contact: Steve Kendrot, USDA | 410-221-7857 ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 3, 2009) – In the nearly 70 years since nutria (Myocastor coypus) were introduced into the marshes at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, Maryland, these invasive aquatic rodents have wreaked havoc in the Chesapeake Bay. Originally brought to the area for its luxurious fur, […]
Contact: Alan Heft, Maryland DNR Inland Fisheries Management Division | 301.689.7107 ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 5, 2009) – It is illegal to import grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) into Maryland waters for many reasons, the most important of which is that grass carp pose a serious threat to the ecological integrity of Chesapeake Bay. Grass carp, also known […]
