Natural resource managers, outdoor enthusiasts and volunteers can play a role in stopping and slowing the spread of invasive species.
The second edition of the Ohio Field Guide to Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) is now available on-line and in print to help professionals and citizens to do just that.
The updated field guide features more than 65 aquatic invasive species, including invasive plants and algae, invasive invertebrates and invasive fish, and serves as a valuable tool to aid in AIS identification and early detection, collection, verification and reporting. Each invasive species profile contains photographs, illustrations, maps, and narrative descriptions to highlight important facts or features of that species.
"With this guide we want users to be informed about the spread of aquatic invasive species in Ohio and how their establishment threatens waters across the state," said Eugene Braig, aquatic ecosystems program director with Ohio State University Extension, the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and co-author of the field guide. "While helping to slow or stop the spread of all invasives is our goal, we are particularly interested in sightings of select newly encroaching species in Ohio - those flagged with a phone icon in the guide such as brazilian waterweed, european frog-bit, flowering rush, and red swamp crayfish," Braig said.
The red swamp crayfish is one of the species flagged in the guide (with a phone icon) to be on the look-out for as they are highly adaptable, quickly dominating lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands.
"My team and I have utilized the first edition of the OAIS guide to confirm the presence of invasive aquatic vegetation species in MWCD lakes over the past 2 years, especially while conducting aquatic vegetation surveys. This summer, while on Seneca Lake, it was useful in the timely discovery of Hydrilla. The guide shows precise and easy to understand descriptions for identification and we were able to easily confirm whether we had found Hydrilla as opposed to a look-alike. This is an important resource for aquatic field studies in Ohio, and I am excited for the second edition!" said Kathryn Hamman, water quality coordinator for the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD). Hydrilla is profiled in the guide on pages 42 and 43.
Accessing the guide is easy
The Ohio AIS field guide is available digitally and hard copies may be requested from John Navarro, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife (John.Navarro@dnr.ohio.gov); Tory Gabriel, Ohio Sea Grant (gabriel.78@osu.edu); or Eugene Braig, OSU Extension, School of Environment and Natural Resources (braig.1@osu.edu). Requests for large numbers should go to wildlife.shipping@dnr.ohio.gov.
Funding for the Ohio Field Guide to Aquatic Invasive Species was provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife.