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February 25th, 2014 | #41 |
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Spanish rice farmers fight invasive snail
http://www.theguardian.com/environme...invasive-snail
The EU has "washed its hands" of an invasion of snails in a Spanish river delta that are destroying crops and threaten to spread into other southern European wetlands, farmers say. Rice-growers in the Ebro Delta on southern Catalonia's Mediterranean coast have reported losing up to half of their crops since the island apple snail (Pomacea insularum) was first seen in 2009. The worst-affected fields have 12 snails per square metre, with each snail capable of eating the roots of up to 15 rice plants each day. Authorities are attempting to destroy the snails by drying out their fields over winter and flooding some with salt water. The EU has supported the experiment by sharing the cost with the Spanish and Catalonian governments. But it will recoup €378,000 of this money from the delta's struggling farmers. The EU pays farmers a subsidy to keep their fields flooded during the winter months and preserve wetland habitat for birds and fish. The EU gave growers permission to drain 7,000 hectares of fields this winter, but this meant losing their subsidies. "The EU has washed its hands of the problem," said Albert Pons, a rice farmer from the delta village of Camarles. "I have spent hours and hours setting up systems to catch and eliminate the snail, cleaning out filters and irrigation channels and physically searching for and killing the snails one at a time." The Ebro River's delta of rice fields and wetlands provide habitat and breeding sites for a large range of bird species. More than 7,000 hectares is protected under the Ramsar convention on wetlands. The wetlands currently remain free of the snail. The European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) says the snails could destroy wetland ecosystems if they spread across southern Europe. The vice-chair of Efsa's panel on plant health, Joop van Lenteren, said juvenile snails, only millimetres across, could attach to the feathers of migrating birds and spread to wetlands hundreds of kilometres away. The hulls of local fishing boats could be covered with eggs, raising concerns the snail could hitch a ride to other waterways. Efsa research indicates that the snail could thrive in large parts of Spain, southern France, Italy and Greece and the Danube. If this happens, the snail could push already fragile ecosystems into irreversible decline as it has done in Thailand and other countries in south-east Asia. "When the snail establishes in rivers and wetlands the consequences can be serious. Because it is so voracious, there is a high risk to biodiversity," he said. According to tthe Global Invasive Species Database, the snails have an ability to reproduce at extraordinary rates. Between April and November, females will lay 400 bright pink eggs every five to 15 days. Pons said when the snail first appeared on his farmland, he did not realise what an insidious threat it posed. "I first saw the snail in an irrigation channel in 2010. The following year we found them in my rice fields. This last year has been catastrophic and our struggle to remove or control them [is] extremely expensive. "The plague has spread like wildfire. Now farmers and the public bodies cannot keep up with it. Seeing the extent of the damage, I feel anxiety for the future of my livelihood and family," said Pons. The South American species is a popular aquarium pet because of its size and can grow as big as an apple. Its release into the Ebro has been linked with Promotora Bama, an exotic animal importer, which bred the snails at a facility in the village of L'Aldea on the north side of the delta. The snails were first detected in a drainage channel in the town. Shortly afterwards, the company relocated its facility to the town of Tarragona, 80km to the north. Promotora Bama, who were unavailable for comment, were taken to court by the Catalonian government in 2012 but a judge dismissed the action because it had passed the three-year statute of limitations. Efsa said the snails in the delta had genetic traits consistent with cultivation in the pet industry. Eggs left by the snails. Photograph: Dani Forcadell In November 2012, the EU banned the import of all snails in the genus pomacea. An European commission spokesperson said: "The commission is very concerned about the economic and environmental damage caused by the apple snail and for that reason, under the EU plant health legislation, the snails of the genus pomacea are subject to emergency measures to prevent its introduction into and the spread within the Union." The EU has made €2.64m available to the Spanish authorities from 2010 until 2013 for control actions against the harmful organism. But the EU says the subsidy contracts farmers received for flooding their fields, which were suspended during 2013, expired at the end of last year and would not be reinstated because the fields no longer represent good habitat for birds. "The commission does not consider appropriate to extend these commitments until 2014, given the economic and environmental damage caused by the apple snail." |
May 20th, 2014 | #42 |
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Just found this 18-year old article
An extremely destructive clam species native to Asia which clung onto the hulls of yachts has been invading freshwater streams and lakes in Bavaria. The problem since then could have only gotten worse: http://www.bezirk-oberbayern.de/show...t=tx|360.566.1
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May 28th, 2014 | #43 | |
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Giant Hogweed Quote:
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June 24th, 2014 | #44 |
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Watch out! The venomous ‘rocket ant’ with jaws like a beartrap that is invading the US
- Trap-jaw ant can open its jaw 180 degrees - Can release it like a beartrap at the ground to launch itself into the air - 9.5mm ant spreading across the Gulf states By MARK PRIGG 23 June 2014 It can open its jaw 180 degrees, and fire it like a beartrap at the ground to launch itself into the air. It also backs a venomous sting - and is invading the US. The giant Trap-jaw ants are spreading across the US, researchers warned today. THE GIANT TRAP-JAW ANT There are four species of trap-jaw ants native to the United States. Sorger and her co-authors were interested in the spread of an invasive and particularly aggressive species from South America called Odontomachus haematodus, which was first unofficially recorded in Alabama in 1956. Measuring upto 9.5mm long, they are commonly called trap-jaw ants due to their elongate mandibles, which can be opened to 180°, then snapped rapidly together on prey. These ants are amazing in their ability to control and time the mandibular movement. When necessary, an ant can forcibly close the mandibles against a surface or other organism and actually propel itself away for up to several inches http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...#ixzz35YtDIn6c |
June 24th, 2014 | #45 |
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Their stings can't be dangerous to humans. At least, they're not ugly like most ants are.
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July 15th, 2014 | #46 |
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http://gawker.com/picnic-baskets-fil...zed-1605014807
diversity tries to import some giant african snails |
July 23rd, 2014 | #47 |
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A species of aggressive hornet not native to the UK has reportedly been spotted in Scotland – or has it?
Workmen in Fife were shocked to discover what they say was an insect “two to three inches long” with a 6mm-long sting “the length of a needle.” Asian hornets (Vespa velutina) are predators originally from China, which were introduced to the south of France within a delivery of pottery in late 2004. The species has killed six people in France since its arrival, having caused an anaphylactic shock in its victims - its sting is slightly fouler solely due to its size, which is larger than a normal bee. However, it is a much larger threat to the honey bee – causing significant losses to colonies. It can grow up to 3cm and has a black/dark brown thorax. Considering that Andrew Allan, 30, from East Kilbride, said he saw a hornet considerably larger than the one feared to be making its way towards the Channel, it’s more likely he saw its larger European counterpart - the “hornet” (Vespa crabro) or a Horntail. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-9621683.html |
July 25th, 2014 | #48 |
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Jews of the Reptile World
According to Cygnet, these are the ultimate jizards because they are already in Madagascar.
The Satanic Leaf-tailed Geko |
August 13th, 2014 | #49 | |
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An Asian fruitfly brought in through subversive importing threatens crops:
Thanks to E.U. vs. Russia tit for tat, this fly (Drosophila suzukii) isn't likely to visit Russia because of imports from Europe.
http://www.zuonline.ch/artikel_251900.html Quote:
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August 18th, 2014 | #50 | ||
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Asian mosquito invades Germany, thanks to subversive trade:
http://www.rtl.de/cms/news/rtl-aktue...3-1996658.html
Quote:
Quote:
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November 6th, 2014 | #51 |
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Invasive beetles are literally sucking the life out of New York City trees The emerald ash borer, which first came to the US in 2002, threatens 7% of the state’s trees. New York state’s ash trees are all at risk of being infested by a small green beetle, the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), according to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. The species, native to Asia and Russia, first came to the US in 2002, where it first showed up in Michigan. It is now currently resident in 24 New York counties, with its presence in Westchester and Broome counties confirmed on November 3, 5 years after it first arrived in NY. http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/...rk-city-trees/ |
November 6th, 2014 | #52 |
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Funny. No e-mail notification of this thread
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November 6th, 2014 | #53 |
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Invasive Coolie-invented virus found on German turkey farm:
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November 6th, 2014 | #54 |
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So this is the little fucker that fucked my raspberry crop this year! Figures that the chink bug was named after my old jap genetics prof, Suzuki. Or maybe Dave discovered this particular vermin; Drosophila sp. are uniquely suited to genetic research. |
December 15th, 2014 | #55 |
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December 15th, 2014 | #56 |
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Eat The Enemy: The Delicious Solution To Menacing Asian Carp
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/1...n_6324896.html |
December 16th, 2014 | #57 | |
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The pros and cons of being plagued with certain alien species:
There seems to be more than enough there to feed the Kwa, without having to import them from their habitat of origin. Same goes with pythons and anacondas, if you can get the squeamish ones to start eating snakes. It's not clear as to what they do with those animals. I see plenty of money to be made with meat and hides:
http://article.wn.com/view/2012/12/0...thon_massacre/ Quote:
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December 16th, 2014 | #58 | |
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Quote:
The Asian carp are more interesting. Apparently they taste really good, but they are carp, so they may have a million bones. Never cut one up or seen one, but I'd eat one. |
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December 17th, 2014 | #59 |
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I've eaten carp before and never noticed them overly bony in the sense where small kids could choke on any needle-like bones. They are sort of primitive-structured, like sharks and rays, though, if that's what you mean.
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January 2nd, 2015 | #60 |
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Dogs trained to sniff out Asian long-horned Beetles:
https://www.google.nl/search?q=Annet...l%3B1024%3B767
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle
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