#invasive-species

#invasive-species

Icelanders may be the last group of people on Earth to experience the pesky bite of a mosquito. This week, Iceland recorded the presence of the insects within its borders for the first time in the Nordic nation's history. The discovery of three Culiseta annulata mosquitoes was confirmed Monday by the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, which said the mosquitoes likely arrived by freight and appeared to be able to withstand Iceland's climate.

Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time as global heating makes the country more hospitable for insects. The country was until this month one of the only places in the world that did not have a mosquito population. The other is Antarctica. Scientists have predicted for some time that mosquitoes could establish themselves in Iceland as there are plentiful breeding habitats such as marshes and ponds. Many species will be unable to survive the harsh climate, however.

At first, the stoat looks like a faint smudge in the distance. But, as it jumps closer, its sleek body is identified by a heat-detecting camera and, with it, an alert goes out to Orkney's stoat hunters. Aided by an artificial intelligence programme trained to detect a stoat's sinuous shape and movement, trapping teams are dispatched with the explicit aim of finding and killing it.

According to a statement from the city, "the Santa Cruz County Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the University of California Cooperative Extension, has confirmed the presence of the invasive shothole borer beetle in trees located in the Tannery area of the city of Santa Cruz. Arborists identified two affected trees, prompting local agencies to call on the public's help in early detection and prevention of further spread."

Like many student volunteers, the kids in the group Town Belt Kaitiaki look after their neighborhood parks planting trees, weeding, clearing paths. But they also do something less common: exterminating animals. "So we have a possum trap the white ones that are up on the trees," says Finn Hibbert, age 18, pointing to a white and metal box designed to kill brushtail possums, an Australian marsupial. Other traps scattered throughout the park also kill rats.

The kiwi is New Zealand's most iconic bird. Round and fuzzy, the bird is flightless and has a long beak that makes it adorable or awkward, depending on who you ask. New Zealanders are even known as "kiwis." Still, despite the kiwi's fame, many people in New Zealand have never seen one. Kiwi have become increasingly rare. Over the last century, New Zealand's unique birds have disappeared at a rapid pace.

Kenya's arid north has always stirred the imaginations of those who visit. Its open, scorched bushland distributed over exposed geological formations and crosscut by riverine tentacles never fails to elicit impressions of emptiness and remoteness. To most outsiders, this is a timeless land. It is beautiful but unproductive, so the imaginary goes. It is backward. Its vulnerabilities - drought, famine, conflict, poverty - are inherent. Radical change is needed: a new way of doing things to unlock vast untapped potential and bring prosperity.

When a virulent material enters an ecosystem, it can wreak havoc on existing life. Bittersweet vines in Upstate New York, for example, were brought to the region in the second half of the 19th century to combat erosion and for their sinuous, woody beauty. Native to eastern Asia, these largely poisonous plants quickly became invasive, smothering other specimens and even uprooting trees.

For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to action prohibiting road construction, which has limited wildfire suppression and active forest management,

The scientist traipses to a pond wearing rubber boots but he doesn't enter the water. Instead, Brad Hollingsworth squats next to its swampy edge and retrieves a recording device the size of a deck of cards. He then opens it up and removes a tiny memory card containing 18 hours of sound. Back at his office at the San Diego Natural History Museum, the herpetologist an expert in reptiles and amphibians uses artificial intelligence to analyze the data on the card.

Mute swans are invasive species in California, known for their territorial behavior, which includes drowning smaller animals, making them a significant threat to local ecosystems.

Crawfish Boils are feasts featuring crayfish, corn, potatoes, and sausage, deeply rooted in Creole and Cajun culture, now being celebrated in Bermondsey.

The New World Screwworm (NWS) lays hundreds of larvae in the wounds of animals and people, which hatch within hours and consume the victim's tissue.

Last year a foxtail seed barb got lodged in our dog's inner eyelid and scratched her cornea, " resident Jasmine Colahan posted on Instagram.

"There's always some risk with species like this. If T. magnum were to establish here, it could become a nuisance. They form vast supercolonies..."

Green crabs have been in New England since the mid-to-late 1980s, making their way from Europe and West Africa via cargo ships.

Starting May 7, the EBRPD's banding program is transitioning to color-coded, lake-specific bands and will no longer accept EBMUD bands.