Invasive Species

Invasive species

Invasive species are organisms introduced beyond their native ranges that establish and spread, affecting ecosystems, wildlife and human activities. This archive covers their ecology, impacts and management.

7 stories

Conservation Practice

Boulder County’s Red Hill weed-control plan remains contested

A proposed drone application of herbicide to tackle cheatgrass has county approval, but its ecological effects at Red Hill have not been established.

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Wildlife

Report card points to continued spread of feral deer across much of Australia

A reported 2026 assessment found deer numbers or distribution rising in several jurisdictions, while South Australia showed improvement. The underlying report card was not available for independent review.

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Freshwater

Eleven-year study tracks drivers of metabolism in California’s Delta

An analysis of dissolved-oxygen records from six sites found that invasive aquatic vegetation, dry years and a drought barrier were associated with changes in ecosystem metabolism. The results describe ecological processes, not demonstrated conservation gains.

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Conservation Practice

Russell removes traps in areas with no pest detections

Russell Landcare Trust has begun removing traps in some bush areas where monitoring has found no pests, but catches in the buffer zone show that pest control continues.

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Freshwater

Bass removal expands reported habitat for South African redfin

A Breekkrans River project has removed invasive spotted bass and built a barrier to protect native fish. Sources report an expanded reach for the Doring River redfin, but do not yet establish lasting population recovery.

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Freshwater

MusselFinder uses underwater images to estimate invasive mussel density

A machine-learning method analysed more than 50,000 images from a Lake Michigan reef, with strong density estimates in images of suitable clarity.

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Conservation Practice

A dog is being trained to detect invasive sea squirt in Scotland

Sgiath, a Labrador working with marine ecologist Dr Texa Sim, has reportedly located hundreds of colonies of carpet sea squirt. The available reporting does not establish how accurate the method is or whether it has changed management outcomes.

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