[APWG] FW: NEWS: Connecticut nurseries move to eradicate invasive plants
Marc Imlay
ialm at erols.com
Fri Sep 10 06:04:26 CDT 2010
Hi Michael,
In regard to " "No one gets sick from these plants, animals don't get killed
by them," said Kevin J. Sullivan, a CNLA board member and owner of Chestnut
Hill Nursery in Stafford Springs." Actually folks do get sick from Japanese
barberry. Best regards
Marc Imlay, PhD
Conservation biologist, 301-2830808, 3014425657 cell)
Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council,
Vice president of the Maryland Native Plant Society,
Chair of the Biodiversity and Habitat Stewardship Committee for the Maryland
Chapter of the Sierra Club.
C. Lyme Disease Management
There is an 8.8 times increased risk of lyme disease in Jpanese Barberry
dominated areas. Jeff Ward reported at the MA-EPPC conference last August
2007 that ticks doubled in Connecticut where Japanese Barberry was present.
A year later "The Connecticut researchers found that questing adult ticks
were most abundant in areas dominated by Japanese barberry, and that about
44% of the ticks found in barberry were infected with Borrelia burgdorferi,
-- the spirochete causative agent of human Lyme disease. However, only 10%
of the less abundant ticks from non-barberry areas were infected. These
findings suggest a great probability of humans
becoming infected with Lyme disease in barberry dominated areas."
Thus, there is an 8.8 times greater risk in Japanese barberry patches.
Staff at Catoctin Mountain National Park have been looking for
justification to control the Japanese Barberry which has evidently
covered about 1/4th of the 5,000 acres. This may help.
One of the principles of Parasitology is that parasite problems
increase in disturbed mono-cultural habitats. Shistosomiasis
from snails in Africa is a classic example with the incidence being
very low in the more natural areas. We recommend monitoring both
deer tick density and percent of ticks that are actual hosts of the
Lyme disease bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi.
We have three goals, to reduce lyme disrease, to remove the lyme
disease barrier to enjoyment of nature, and to provide support for
control of non-native invasive plants. Note the message below.
NISC Biweekly report for October 17 - October 31 *Meeting
Linkage Between Invasive Plants and Human Disease: October
2008,
Scott C. Williams a researcher at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment
Station together with Jeffery S. Ward, Thomas E. Worthley, and Kirby C.
Stafford from the University of Connecticut reported that the management of
the invasive plant, Japanese barberry (Berberis thumbergii) reduces
blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) abundance and could have human health
ramifications. The native white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is a
primary host for larval and nymphal blacklegged tick. The researchers
found that tick abundances were greatest in dense barberry. These ticks are
a major vector for agents that cause Lyme disease, human grandulocytic
anaplasmosis, and human babesiosis.
The CDC reported in 2005 that human grandulocytic anaplasmosis is
a new tickborne rickettsial infection of neutrophils caused by Anaplasma
phagocytophilum. "This zoonotic disease has a great capacity to infect and
cause disease in humans while maintaining a persistent subclinical state in
animal reservoirs." Because grandulocytic anaplasmosis impacts immune system
function, there is a potential that this infection could worsen other
infectious diseases
(see http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EiD/vol11no12/05-0898.htm).
The CDC reported in 2007 that cases of human babesiosis have
increased across the northeastern U.S., especially in coastal areas.
Human babesiosis is a tick-transmitted, malaria-like infection caused
by Babesia microtiparasites. The B. microti parasite shares the same
principal rodent reservoir (white-footed mouse) and tick vector
(I. scapularis) as the Lyme disease spirochete (see
www.cdc.gov/eid/content/13/4/633.htm) (Staff Contact Chris Dionigi).
-----Original Message-----
From: apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
[mailto:apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of Olivia Kwong
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 8:14 AM
To: apwg at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: [APWG] NEWS: Connecticut nurseries move to eradicate invasive
plants
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Connecticut-nurseries-move-to-eradicate-
invasive-650167.php
Connecticut nurseries move to eradicate invasive plants
Michael P. Mayko, Mmayko at ctpost.com
Published: 05:20 p.m., Wednesday, September 8, 2010
They tolerate a wide variety of growing conditions. They offer contrasting
colors to the landscape. They control erosion and are resistant to most
green eating animals.
But many varieties of the Japanese barberries so popular with Connecticut
gardeners and professional landscapers also tend to crowd out other
plants, earning them the status of "invasive" plants.
See the link above for the full aritcle text.
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