[MAIPC] Data Request - Release of Biocontrol Agents for Weeds In North America

[Voznitza, Aleksandra]

Dear Biocontrol Practitioner,

I'm reaching out to you on behalf of Ian Pearse, USGS Research Ecologist, who is working on a USGS-led effort to map the releases of biological control agents for weeds in North America.  Ian and his team are getting in touch with biocontrol practitioners, developers, and scientists throughout the country.

Ian would like to ask if you would be willing to share your release information on biocontrol agents with him and his team, so that they can create a better map of where biocontrol agents have been released and persist in North America.  We think this is important, so that biocontrol practitioners have a better sense of where (outside of their individual jurisdictions) biocontrol agents have been released and are thriving.

At its most basic, Ian is interested in information on where specific biocontrol agents (for example,  Russian knapweed gall wasp) were released (for example, GPS coordinate or a place name). He also wants to make this effort as easy as possible for you, and he is happy to accept records in whatever form you might have them (for example in your own spreadsheet, scans of release documents or field notebooks, etc).  He can even receive paper copies of records and would be happy to coordinate with you if you have records in that format.  Ian is also happy to coordinate with you on any privacy concerns where those exist.

The goal is to ultimately make these records public via the SIMP / iBiocontrol website https://www.ibiocontrol.org/simp.cfm (run in conjunction with EDDMaps), and to use these records to make better range maps of established biocontrol agents in North America.

Thank you for your help with this project!  And please let Ian know if there are others in your area who they should reach out to. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out to Ian, his contact information is listed below.

Ian Pearse, Research Ecologist
ipearse at usgs.go
USGS Ft Collins Science Center,NRRC Bldg C
Fort Collins, CO 80525

Thank you,

Alex Voznitza

Invasive Plant Management Team
National Capital Area
National Park Service
​
aleksandra_voznitza at nps.gov<mailto:aleksandra_voznitza at nps.gov>


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