[APWG] FW: NEWS: Connecticut nurseries move to eradicate invasive plants

[Marc Imlay]

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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