Sorry, no cute headline this time.
Invasive species #1: Hydrilla, the aquatic equivalent of kudzu. From the Fayetteville Observer:
Nobody knew what it was at first, just an incredibly fast-spreading aquatic weed near the public boat ramp on Lake Waccamaw.
Rob Emens, an invasive species specialist with the state Division of Water Resources, had no such doubts.
Emens visited the boat ramp in October and immediately knew that the plant fragments he saw floating in the water could be only one thing: the dreaded hydrilla.
The weed is so invasive that it threatened to choke almost all of the nearly 9,000-acre Lake Waccamaw in as little as five years if left unchecked.
Invasive species #2: The emerald ash borer, which has now been found in North Carolina. This one particularly sucks as I have an ash tree in my backyard. As the Winston-Salem Journal reports:
An emergency quarantine was issued Monday for three North Carolina counties after an invasive beetle species was discovered in the state for the first time.
Two adult emerald ash borers, a species native to Asia and eastern Russia, were spotted in Granville County last week. Destruction from the insect has also been seen in ash trees in neighboring Person and Vance counties, all three of which border Virginia where the insect is prevalent.
Endangered species: Venus fly traps. As the Wilmington Star-News reports:
Through years of excessive poaching, development destroying the plant’s natural habitat and fire suppression, the carnivorous plant is finding it difficult to thrive in its natural habitat, an area within 90 miles of Wilmington, scientists, environmentalists and law enforcement officials said.
A plant that grew in 20 counties 50 years ago now grows in only 12, with 40 percent of remaining populations labeled as having a poor chance of survival, according to 2013 data from the state Natural Heritage Program.
