IFAS News
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences - University of Florida
UF experts launch Web page to gather Cuban tree frog reports from citizens
November 19, 2009
Topic(s): Conservation, Environment, Invasive Species
Cutline at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If Cuban tree frogs have invaded your neighborhood, University of Florida experts want to know-so they’ve launched a Web page encouraging residents to report the super-sized amphibians.
By observing and removing Cuban tree frogs, residents can help protect native tree frog species, said Monica McGarrity, a biological scientist with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
The page, http://ufwildlife.ifas.ufl.edu/citizen_sci.shtml, is one of the first attempts to recruit “citizen scientists” in control efforts, McGarrity said. It was developed by McGarrity and Steve Johnson, an assistant professor of wildlife ecology, who study the frogs at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Plant City.
“People e-mail us constantly, wanting to know what they can do about these frogs,” McGarrity said. “So we launched a pilot project to get them involved.”
Cold weather may reduce Cuban tree frogs’ impact as they move north, UF researchers say
July 16, 2009
Topic(s): Agriculture, Invasive Species, Pests, Weather
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Invasive Cuban tree frogs are spreading through Florida, but a new University of Florida study suggests their impact could weaken as they move farther north, because colder weather seems to reduce their average size.
Smaller Cuban tree frogs would lay fewer eggs and be less likely to eat native frogs, said Steve Johnson, an assistant professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Cold weather may also shorten the frogs’ breeding season and life span.
The study, authored by Johnson and Monica McGarrity, a UF biological scientist, was published in the June issue of the journal Biological Invasions.
“This is a hint of a silver lining,” Johnson said. “We usually don’t discover things about invasive species where we say ‘hey, there’s a little bit of hope here.’ Usually it’s the other way around.”
Predatory mite could put the bite on invasive crop pest, UF researcher says
April 28, 2009
Topic(s): Agriculture, Biocontrols, Invasive Species, Pests, Vegetables
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Chilli thrips sound more like a snack food than an agricultural menace, but these tiny insects threaten many of the Sunshine State’s most important crops — fortunately, University of Florida research shows a predatory mite gobbles them up like popcorn.
On bell pepper plants in greenhouses, the mite consumed enough chilli thrips to keep the population to less than one per leaf, compared with 70 per leaf on control plants. Similar results were obtained with peppers grown outdoors. The study was published this month in the journal Biological Control.
Native to Asia, the invasive pest attacks more than 100 host plants, including corn, citrus, peanuts and tomatoes. Established first in the Caribbean, it spread to Florida in 2005 and then to Texas. Adult chilli thrips are about 1 millimeter long.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate, if chilli thrips become more widely established in the U. S., they could cause agricultural losses of almost $4 billion per year.
For greenhouse crops — including bell peppers, strawberries, basil and flowers such as Gerber daisies — the mite could provide a much-needed alternative to pesticides, said Lance Osborne, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and an author of the study.
“This mite has a lot of potential for greenhouses, which is where it’s used now,” Osborne said. The mite, which has no common name but is known scientifically as Amblyseius swirskii, is available commercially to manage whiteflies and broad mites.
Because the mite is already approved for use in Florida, growers can try it against chilli thrips, he said. Osborne cautioned that the mite is not likely to be successful on every crop the pest attacks. Researchers were happy to find the mite held up well outdoors on bell peppers. Previous attempts to establish the mite outside on rose bushes have been unsuccessful, he said.
“Maybe there is a plant issue — they prefer peppers, but not roses,” Osborne said.
An upcoming project will investigate the use of peppers as “banker plants” — the mite equivalent of birdhouses, said Cindy McKenzie, a research entomologist with the USDA’s Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce.
In the project, ornamental peppers will be planted outdoors among rose bushes, to see if they can harbor mite populations that protect both plant species, said McKenzie, another author of the study. (more…)
New Disease May Cost Florida’s Avocado Industry Millions, UF Experts Warn
January 26, 2009
Topic(s): Crops, Economics, Invasive Species, Pests, RECs
- By:
Tom Nordlie - (352) 273-3567 - Sources:
Jonathan Crane - jhcr@ufl.edu, (786) 255-5878
Edward “Gilly” Evans - eaevans@ufl.edu, (305) 246-7001 x272
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s avocado industry, the nation’s second-largest, could lose millions of dollars if a new disease reaches the state’s southern tip, according to University of Florida experts.
Laurel wilt disease, caused by a fungus transmitted by the invasive redbay ambrosia beetle, kills avocado and several native trees including redbay, said Jonathan Crane, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and co-author of a paper estimating the disease’s financial impact. The paper is expected to be published later this year. (more…)
UF Entomologists Warn Floridians New Roaches May Be on the Way
October 8, 2008
Topic(s): Entomology and Nematology, Household Pests, Invasive Species
- By:
Mickie Anderson - (352) 273-3566 - Sources:
Phil Koehler - pgk@ufl.edu, (352) 392-2484
Roberto Pereira - rpereira@ufl.edu, (352) 392-1901
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As if Floridians aren’t bugged enough by roaches, a growing interest among reptile enthusiasts to farm the insects as lizard food could result in several new cockroach varieties invading the state, University of Florida entomologists warn.
Phil Koehler and Roberto Pereira, researchers with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, wrote an article in last month’s Florida Pest Pro magazine, alerting pest control operators and homeowners to be on the lookout for several new species of cockroach. (more…)
Research Shows Contraception Could Control Problem Parakeets
July 8, 2008
Topic(s): Biocontrols, Invasive Species
- By:
Mickie Anderson - (352) 273-3566 - Sources:
Michael Avery - michael.l.avery@aphis.usda.gov, (352) 375-2229
Jim Lindsay - jim.lindsay@fpl.com, (561) 691-7032
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When monk parakeets began to infiltrate the United States in the 1960s, some feared they would ravage farm crops as they often had in their native South America.
That never happened, but the birds did cause a different kind of problem: They built huge, heavy nests atop power substations and utility equipment, causing power outages, fires and countless headaches for utility companies from Florida to Washington. (more…)
Aggressive Weed Becoming a Menace Worse Than Kudzu, UF Researcher Says
July 5, 2008
Topic(s): Agriculture, Invasive Species
- By:
Mickie Anderson - (352) 392-0400 - Source(s):
Shibu Jose - sjose@ufl.edu, (352) 846-0872
Raghavan Charudattan - rcharu@ufl.edu, (352) 392-7240 x354
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — And you thought kudzu was bad.
A weed called cogongrass is rapidly spreading across the Southeast, and a University of Florida researcher says it’s already overtaken kudzu as Florida’s most obnoxious weed.
“Kudzu’s no longer the poster child. Cogongrass is a big deal,” said forestry researcher Shibu Jose. “It’s becoming a major, major problem.” (more…)
Florida Python Invasion: Expanded and Still Growing, UF Researcher Says
May 15, 2008
Topic(s): Invasive Species
- By:
Mickie Anderson (352) 273-3566 - Source:
Frank Mazzotti, fjma@ufl.edu, (954) 577-6338
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The invasion of gigantic Burmese pythons in South Florida appears to be rapidly expanding, according to a new report from a University of Florida researcher who’s been chasing the snakes since 2005.
Associate professor Frank Mazzotti of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has published a new fact sheet outlining updated python statistics and methods being used to find and eliminate the snakes. (more…)
UF Researchers Seek Bugs to Battle Aquatic Weed Plaguing Central, South Florida
April 21, 2008
Topic(s): Biocontrols, Environment, Extension, Invasive Species
- By:
Tom Nordlie - (352) 273-3567 - Sources:
Jim Cuda - jcuda@ufl.edu, (352) 392-1901, x126
Abhishek Mukherjee - abhi06@ufl.edu, (352) 392-3616
Marcos De Jesus - marcos.dejesus@tpwd.state.tx.us, (512) 353-0072
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Years of aggressive hydrilla control efforts have paid off for some Florida communities - unfortunately, their success against the invasive aquatic weed has had unintended benefits for a more troublesome plant, says a University of Florida expert who’s researching insects and diseases that might help control the upstart.
For the past decade Hygrophila polysperma - a southern Asian plant known as “hygrophila” for short - has been taking over the ecological niche left when hydrilla was eradicated from waterways, said Jim Cuda, a UF associate professor of entomology. It’s now a significant problem in South and Central Florida. (more…)
Space Station Experiment to Test Bacteria Hitchhiking to the Red Planet
December 5, 2007
Topic(s): Invasive Species, Research
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If a trip to Mars seems like it would be a tough journey, imagine what it would be like on the outside of the spaceship.
Earth bacteria can be extraordinarily tough—rugged enough, in fact, to survive on the outside of a space capsule. Now, a set of experiments on their way to the International Space Station via this week’s scheduled shuttle flight is designed to test exactly what effect the rigors of space could have on bacterial spores on a Mars-bound vessel. (more…)
