
Groundbreaking for New Invasive Plant Quarantine FacilityBy Alfredo Flores April 22, 2002Groundbreaking ceremonies are
scheduled today in Florida for a new U.S. Department of Agriculture
Invasive
Plant Research Facility that will help scientists continue their research
to stop melaleuca and other invasive weeds that threaten the Everglades and
other sensitive areas. The new facility in Davie, Florida, to be operated by
USDAs Agricultural Research Service,
is scheduled to open in February 2003. ARS is USDAs chief scientific
research agency. One of the most serious non-native weeds to be studied in the quarantine lab
is melaleuca. Originally from Australia, melaleuca was introduced in Florida in
the mid-1880s. Since then, it has quickly spread throughout south Florida,
displacing native plant and animal communities, drying up wetlands, creating
fire hazards and threatening the stability of the Everglades ecosystem. USDA is currently directing studies of the melaleuca psyllid
(Boreioglycaspis melaleucae), a tiny insect that may help to control or
eradicate melaleuca. These insects feed on melaleucas clear sap, severely
damaging the invasive plants seedlings. Lack of quarantine space for
rearing such biological control agents has impeded research and testing in the
past. In 2001, the Department of the Interior provided $6.2 million to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for
construction of the new quarantine facility. It will be located at the
University of Floridas
Fort Lauderdale Research and Education
Center in Davie. U.S. Department of Agriculture |