ASETS

New MISIN Map Viewer

Amos Ziegler — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:48:46 +0000

ASETS has developed a new Flex based data viewer for the Michigan Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN). This new viewer was built using the ESRI Adobe Flex API and provides viewing of the state wide distribution of reported invasive terrestrial plants in Michigan.

Users are able to select a single species from the “View Species” widget. As you can see in the screen capture above this will in turn display all observations for the selected species. Users are also able to explore the map through zoom and pan tools, as well as, flipping between the street map and imagery data backgrounds (street map displayed).

An Identify tool is available for accessing the attributes associated with the observation and an address locate tool is also available.

Browse around the map and register with the MISIN site if you wish to become a trained citizen reporter of invasive species in Michigan.

IPM Travels to Central Asia

Amos Ziegler — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:08:52 +0000

Follow Department of Entomology colleague Doug Landis and group on travels to Central Asia in support of a collaborative IPM research program. You can follow the groups travel Blog at http://www.ipmglobal.blogspot.com.

Joy Landis is providing the blog updates while traveling with the IPM group. She is communications Manager and Assistant IPM Coordinator with the Integrated Pest Management Program at Michigan State University.

May 18, 2009: MSU scientists head to 4th annual meeting in Central Asia
The Central Asia IPM Project formally began in 2004. Collaborative projects take time to setup: securing funding, building multi-country relationships, performing the work, and always lots of reporting. The members of the project met in Uzbekistan in 2005, Kyrgyzstan in 2006, Tajikistan in 2007 and now back to Kyrgyzstan in 2009. The project employs a post-doc (local citizens) in each of these countries. The images in the early blog entries are from these visits.

The blog is being initiated now to share news from the travels to take place May 26-June 6, 2009. This time, along with a Central Asian IPM Forum, there will be a Pest Diagnostic Workshop in Bishkek, led by colleagues from the Ohio State University and Montana State University.

Iowa Entering STS Program

New MN EAB Discovery

Amos Ziegler — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:57:13 +0000

A new Emerald Ash Borer infestation was discovered near St. Paul, Minnesota recently. What follows is the official press release from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) today announced the discovery of an emerald ash borer infestation (EAB) in St. Paul just northeast of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Highway 280. This is the first detection of the destructive tree pest in Minnesota.

The infestation was initially reported to MDA by Rainbow Tree Care Company on Wednesday. After receiving the report and conducting an initial inspection, MDA submitted larvae from the infested trees to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for confirmation as EAB. USDA made that preliminary confirmation this morning.

In response to this finding, MDA plans to issue a quarantine prohibiting the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber or any other article that could spread EAB in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. This quarantine is expected to be followed by a federal quarantine within days. MDA staff will now conduct a thorough survey of trees in the surrounding area to assess the extent of the infestation. Information from this survey will help determine the response strategy implemented by state and local officials. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) are working closely with MDA in the response.

EAB is an invasive beetle that attacks and kills ash trees. Its larvae kill ash trees by tunneling into the wood and feeding on the tree’s nutrients. Since its accidental introduction into North America, EAB has killed millions of ash trees in 10 eastern states. With an estimated 900 million ash trees, Minnesota is a prime target for EAB. Earlier this year, MDA issued a quarantine for Houston County in response to an EAB infestation across the border in Wisconsin.

The metallic-green adult beetles are a half inch long, and are active from May to September. Signs of EAB infestation include one-eighth inch, D-shaped exit holes in ash tree bark and serpentine tunnels packed with sawdust under the bark. While EAB spreads slowly on its own, it can hitch a ride to new areas when people transport firewood or other wood products infested with the larvae. Officials urge Minnesotans to take steps to keep EAB from spreading:

Don’t transport firewood, even within Minnesota. Don’t bring firewood along on a camping trip. Buy the wood you need locally from an approved vendor. Don’t bring extra wood home with you.

Don’t buy or move firewood from outside your area. If someone comes to your door selling firewood, ask them about the source of the wood.

Watch for signs of infestation in your ash trees. If you suspect your ash tree could be infested by EAB, visit www.mda.state.mn.us/invasives/eab and use the “Do I Have Emerald Ash Borer?” checklist.

MISIN Launches

Amos Ziegler — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:27:30 +0000

The Michigan Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) reporting website has officially launched. The invasive species reporting capabilities of MISIN were launched to coincide with the kickoff of the Stewardship Network’s 2009 Garlic Mustard Pull.

The Stewardship Network is a grassroots cooperative organization working to protect, restore, and manage Michigan’s natural lands and waters. It helps individuals, organizations, and businesses manage specific sites through sharing ideas, resources, and information.

The first 2009 garlic mustard pull will be held at DeVries Nature Center in Shiawassee County.

Garlic Mustard Removal

When: April 18, Saturday
Time: 9 am to 12 pm
Where: DeVries Nature Center

Come help remove one of the most common invasive species from the natural habitat at DeVries Nature Center!

Questions? Call Heidi at 989-723-9062 or email her at hfrei@tnc.org

Iowa Entering STS Program

Amos Ziegler — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:31:58 +0000

The state of Iowa will officially be part of the National Slow the Spread of the Gypsy Moth Project in 2009. Iowa will transition to standard STS trapping and data management protocols within the defined STS project areas. ASETS will be working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and USDA APHIS in managing the 2009 Iowa STS data. ASETS, as part of its role as the northern STS Information Systems Group (STS-ISG), will provide assistance with data transfer, managemanet, and mapping.

Iowa will be using the data management and GIS resources of the STS Information Systems Group at Michigan State University (ISG-MSU). ISG-MSU maintains the northern database node of the distributed data and GIS infrastructure of the Nations Slow the Spread Project. An additional ISG node exists in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech.

Tracking EAB Parasitoids

Amos Ziegler — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:08:20 +0000

Mapping the release of biological control agents is often overlooked as an important aspect of being able to evaluate the success of an agent on the control of a pest. Researchers with the U.S. Forest Service and USDA APHIS are engaged in a long-term study of the effectiveness of several parasitic wasps on the control of Emerald Ash Borer in the U.S.

ASETS is collaborating with these researchers to develop data collection protocols and data management tools for the management of release and monitoring data.

Iowa Entering STS Program

Mapping Garlic Mustard

Amos Ziegler — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:12:45 +0000

The Michigan Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) will be partnering with the Ingham County and West Michigan clusters of The Stewardship Network to map the locations of garlic mustard in these regions of the lower peninsula. Data on the locations of the garlic mustard infestations will be added to the MISIN database on invasive species in an atempt to increase the understanding of the distribution of invasives within the state.

ASETS is the lead developer of the MISIN mapping and data management system. We are cooperating with the Landis Lab at MSU and the Michigan Natural Features Inventory in the development of this important invasives project.

New Detection of ALB

Amos Ziegler — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:17:39 +0000

Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project. The Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis, “ALB”), a pest of hardwood trees including maple, birch and horse chestnut, was recently discovered in Worcester, Massachusetts.

An astute resident of the Greendale section of Worcester reported the sighting, and it was confirmed by entomologists from USDA APHIS-PPQ earlier this week.

The Asian Longhorn Beetle is an invasive species native to China. It was first discovered in the U.S. in New York in 1996, and has also been found in Chicago and New Jersey. The beetles cause damage by tunneling within the trunks and branches of trees, disrupting the sap flow and weakening and eventually killing them. This pest attacks a wide variety of hardwood trees, particularly maples, and is considered a serious threat to the nursery, lumber, wood products, maple syrup, and tourism industries in our state. If it became established over a large area, it could also significantly disrupt the forest ecosystem.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and the City of Worcester are partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and USDA APHIS-PPQ to coordinate a management plan to eradicate this species in Massachusetts. First steps include a survey of the area to determine the extent of the infestation, and regulatory management to prevent movement of host trees and wood out of the infested area. Infested trees will need to be removed and destroyed, and susceptible host trees may need treatment to prevent further infestations.

Welcome to ASETS

Amos Ziegler — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:47:08 +0000

Welcome, my name is Amos Ziegler and you have landed in the web site of the Applied Spatial Ecology and Technical Services group in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University.

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