Zebra Mussels, Honeysuckle, and Spotted Lanternflies! - Rolling Invasive Species thread

Accidentally clipped off the end of the original dicussion.

i'm not trying to criticize or start a beef or anything, but i'll just note that "stewarding biological diversity is an act of creation that includes human input in important ways" sounds like a slogan for an oil company

― the world's undisputed #1 fan of 'Spud Infinity' (Karl Malone), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:49 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

i agree, of course, that humans are part of the environment and that the sum of what we do and don't do has an enormous effect on the rest of it

― the world's undisputed #1 fan of 'Spud Infinity' (Karl Malone), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:51 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

but in general i think people should move away from trying to "preserve" and "restore" and acknowledge that stewarding biological diversity is an act of creation that includes human input in important ways.
And so is fomenting destruction of biodiversity, map. "Just leaving nature be" is sometimes a laudable position when talking about certain environmental issues. For example, I'm pretty firmly against off-shore wind farms, because of the amount of destruction they do to already threatened aquatic habitats. But simply allowing threatening plant species or pests to destroy important parts of North America's biodiversity because some fascist assholes use it as a cover for their fascism is a non-starter for me.

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 1:07 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

ok

― Nedlene Grendel as Basenji Holmo (map), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 1:23 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

If the spotted lanternfly makes its way down to my county this summer, I'm picking up one of these fuckers and going to war.

― peace, man, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 1:35 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

i guess i'll just give an example to illustrate what i'm trying to get at. outside of boulder utah there is a small stream that runs off boulder mountain and eventually descends into the rock of the colorado plateau. right before it does, it passes through an area that used to be a cattle ranch. now it is half-ranch and half-rustic tourist resort. the ranch part still does single-crop alfalfa farming, but below that, the resort has modified the water flow in a few ways to create a very beautiful sanctuary for birds, bees, and plants. there are still areas of overgrazed and parched brush here and there, and afaik they do minimal planting or weeding to the grounds beyond a garden with a few crops, but the water motification has transformed the area into a place that is undoubtedly more biodiverse than it was as a cattle ranch, and possibly more biodiverse than it was as a single stream surrounded by pinion/juniper.

i think ecology discourse could use a little less of the american virgin / whore thing and take a more sober, clear-eyed view of the values that we want to instill in the gardens that surround us, possibly including one called "balance."

― Nedlene Grendel as Basenji Holmo (map), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 1:40 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'd simply say that the pinion/juniper and stream from pre-ranching days was garden enough, but your point is taken.

What the rest of us are getting worked up about, obviously, is that there are any number of pests (both insect and plant) that are actively killing parts of native forest. There are hardly any Ash trees left near where I live, and every warm season there are swarms of the spotted lanternfly, which are absolutely disastrous for many plants and the animals that depend upon them. So many trees have died in the years since it first got to metro Philly.

peace, man, one way to fight the lanternfly is to PLANT MILKWEED. The lanternfly loves it and is attracted to it, but milkweed sap immobilizes and kills the lanternfly :-)

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 2:08 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sweet! Will do

― peace, man, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 2:16 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I would consider an "invasive" species to be any introduced plant, insect, crustacean, fungus, animal or other organism whose proliferation significantly degrades the food chain of an entire ecosystem, leading to large increases in mortality in all parts of that ecosystem. And, yes, I recognize that under that definition European colonization across the globe has been by far the most destructive instance of such invasion.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 2:30 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

^ ^ ^ Yep

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 4:24 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

yalta.jpg

― imago, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 5:25 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

wait, table and Aimless may have never beefed

― imago, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 5:26 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

No, we have.

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 5:40 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I swear I have never seen “invasive species” associated with human immigration or whatever.
So is this where we talk about the racist buzzwording about the "Africanized" killer bee invasion?

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 5:52 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

this seems relevant, I found this article very thought-provoking, ATTN table and map and Elvis

https://thenaturalfarmer.org/article/rethinking-the-invasive-species-paradigm/

― thinkmanship (sleeve), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 6:25 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

that looks really informative, thanks.

― Nedlene Grendel as Basenji Holmo (map), Wednesday, March 9, 2022 6:38 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

wait, table and Aimless may have never beefed

― imago, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 2:26 PM (four hours ago)

lol what? it's rare to see them agree on anything remotely political!

― sarahell, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 9:38 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

okok, my initial instincts otm lol

― imago, Thursday, March 10, 2022 4:32 AM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

thanks for the article post sleeve

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, March 10, 2022 8:15 AM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

thanks sleeve.

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Thursday, March 10, 2022 11:16 AM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

xp imago, i can say you were OTM 490 if that helps?

― sarahell, Thursday, March 10, 2022 2:17 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

i'm disappointed i haven't had the chance to squash a latern fly yet. maybe i wasn't outside enough this summer :(

― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Thursday, September 15, 2022 11:30 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm happy that I didn't see any. So far, they've mostly kept to the northern and western parts of my state (Maryland).

oh they're all over brooklyn already

I was in the office yesterday, and when I stepped out at lunchtime, they were all over the front of the building. There are no trees in that area. What the heck.

I was not able to punch any of them though.

Thanks for the thread!

So they seem to be drawn to tall buildings... The largest swarms always appear to be at the foot of a high-rise, regardless of the amount of trees nearby.

We were just out, and at the intersection, at the base of a 17 story tall building, there were dozens, but directly and diagonally across the street there were only a couple dead smashed ones. Buildings were 1-3 stories.

Maybe they hit the tall buildings as they glide, and fall to the base?

They may just be attracted to tall buildings. But yeah they certainly love to congregate there.

On August 23, park biologists conducted a follow up rotenone treatment of Baker Lake to ensure the removal of its former non-native trout inhabitants in preparation for introducing Bonneville cutthroat trout next summer. pic.twitter.com/16hiF2jDIX

— Great Basin NPS (@GreatBasinNPS) October 24, 2022

crossposted from the thread i needlessly started.

you have to hand it to them though, that is pretty fucking cutthroat

Have the lanternflies died out? I feel like I'm seeing a lot less of them now that the weather is cooling off (it's been in the low to mid 50s near me the past couple of weeks).

har har xp

Xpost In the fall they go up trees and lay their eggs and then die.

Yeah, gotta keep an eye out for egg masses now.

https://psu-gatsby-files-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/4_3_1500w/public/SLF%20egg%20masses.png?h=ddb2ed66&itok=2uxqMNmw

I thought this was an interesting case: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/06/canadia-wild-horses-stable-island

(p bad article though, just a series of back-and-forth quotes with no details about what effects the horses may be having)

Similar situation to the burros in the Southwestern US. Abandoned work animals that miners used, and a hundred years later they're still there, tearing up the native vegetation.

There's a spring in Death Valley where they trap the wandering burros, but they don't kill them.. there's some kind of adoption program. I saw a truckload of them being hauled out, they didn't look too pleased

Saline Warm Spring, I think (I've been there). I was hoping they'd at least do a trap/neuter/release program there, with the "release" part being optional.

you think there are burros that would choose to stay in the program?

As in, adopted by someone that'll keep them on their own land.