Japanese Knotweed

I am sure by now you have all seen the invasive Japanese Knotweed by the side of the road.
We can all submit records to the National Biodiversity Centre Data bank by logging  in here to submit records.
I have logged in 4 locations: 3 on the Dunmore to Waterford road (on the entrance to Dunmore village, beside the new roundabout; at Belle Lake; and opposite Harneys pub); and in a couple of places on the restored landfill in Tramore.
I have been informed that a new app for your phone will soon be available along the lines of the Butterfly app so that you can record in the field.

Invasive or Alien?

From the National Biodiversity Data Centre, we welcome their excellent recent publication. This has an interesting article on Algae. If you want to find out more, check the AlgaeBase.

There is an overview of Invasive Species Ireland. The Invasive Species Ireland project is a joint venture between the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the National Parks and Wildlife service to implement the recommendations of the 2004 Invasive Species Ireland Report. Click on Alien Watch to submit a sighting. Another interesting section is the Most Unwanted species section. Under downloads, there are Best Practice Management Guidance documents and Codes of Practice...well worth a browse.

The Flora of County Waterford is introduced in the latest publication and begins with the records provided by Paul Green, vice-County recorder with the Botanical Society of the British isles. We look forward to the Biodiversity Mapping System being available to the public online to submit their sightings and to find out where the invasive species have already got to. The sneak preview at the recent seminar looked impressive.

There is an article on Biodiversity Tales which introduces the reader to the word licheneering! Another interesting website is Non Native Species.org. The best downloads here are the Identification sheets. Scroll down the homepage to the bottom.

Galway County Council have an interesting part of their website called Alien Species. If you have a particular interest in the Zebra Mussel or Aquatic Invasives, there are some nice posters to download in pdf format.