Empire State Invasives

Well, blogcentral managed to survive the deluge last Friday relatively unscathed. Today drips of brown water continue to inundate the kitchen area of the lab. I am trying very hard to convince myself that the fetid water is simply laden with rust, but I must admit that my overactive imagination is causing me much concern.

New York State Invasive Species
Anyway, we were chatting about invasive species last Friday, specifically the red lionfish. Sometimes it’s hard to understand the impacts of invasive species until you’ve seen it firsthand in your local environment. So I thought it’d be neat to take a peek at some other invasive species that are impacting the New York Region. The Department of Environmental Conservation lists a number of invasive species that are a major threat to agriculture and the environment in New York State. Today we will focus on three, Zebra Muscles, Chinese Mitten Crabs and Gypsy Moths.

Zebra Muscle


Perhaps the most famous invasive species in New York State, the Zebra Muscle has major impacts on the local ecology as it is able to out-compete native benthic organisms. It also impacts human activities directly by being quite adept at clogging intake pipes for industry, including power plants.


The map shown here courtesy of the USGS shows that Zebra Muscles are present in every major New York State water body from Lake Champlain, to the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, the Erie Canal and the Hudson River.




Chinese Mitten Crab



The DEC states that it is the most recent invasive species to strike the state. It has been spotted primarily in the lower Hudson River, and has slowly been moving northward (reaching as far north as Dutchess County). Chinese Mitten Crabs compete with the endemic Blue Crab, whom may be adversely affected by this invasive species.

The Mitten Crab has long been a problem along the West Coast, more recently it has moved into the Chesapeake and appears to have moved north into New York waters only in past years. The species has been unable to thrive in the St. Lawrence waterway, despite being introduced, but may have more luck in the warmer waters of the Hudson Estuary.

Photo credit: http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/mittencrab_child.shtml

Gypsy Moths


Yuck. You’ve no doubt seen their rather unattractive nests in trees in your own back yard. The success of this invasive species varies greatly from year to year. Sometimes their presence is not noticeable, other times they decimate the canopy in localized regions.

In addition to the seemingly omni-present Gypsy Moth, New York State has also been stricken with two other species of moths, the Forest Tent Caterpillar and Eastern Tent Caterpillar, both of which have caused major damage to native trees in past years.

Photo credit: USGS, http://www.invasive.org/images/768x512/2652087.jpg

Other Transport Mechanisms
We had also talked a bit about methods of introduction of invasive species. One I didn’t mention, but that is getting a lot of attention in New York State is the transport of firewood. Wood is home to many species of burrowing insects. When transported from region to region, we may accidentally be transporting non-native species and introducing them to new habitats, where they may negatively affect local tree populations. Many tree species aren’t able to adapt quickly enough to fight off infestation with recently introduced insects. Many formerly common tree species in New York such as the American Chestnut and the White Birch have in recent years been decimated by invasive species.

In New York State a major concern is transport of insects in firewood into the Catskill and Adirondack State Parks. Many campers bring with them firewood from home, and in the process may be rapidly spreading these invasive bugs.

Here is the Department of Environmental Conservation’s poster asking people to take care with their firewood: