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Beetles on the move; a cure worse than the disease?

Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2009 at 8:42 am

From Arizona Star Reporter Shawn McKinnon’s Waterlogged blog:

“Biologists have found the first tamarisk leaf beetles along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

By itself, that could be good news: The beetles eat tamarisk, or salt cedar, an invasive tree species that resource managers have been trying to eradicate along many Western river banks. Let the beetles in and maybe the tamarisk — another non-native import — will die off.

But this isn’t good news. The tamarisk leaf beetle was released in Colorado
several years ago as a biological control agent, a sort of natural weed killer. Biologists said the beetle couldn’t survive the climate south of about Lake Powell.

Instead, the beetles have spread downstream on the Colorado and at least one of its tributaries, the Virgin River in southwestern Utah and southern Nevada. The concern now is that the little bugs have started to adapt to different environments.

Most at risk is habitat for the endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher, a migratory songbird that nests and breeds in riparian areas of Arizona and New Mexico. The birds like to make homes in — wait for it — tamarisk trees. …”

Read more from Waterblogged by clicking here.

October 22, 2009 · Filed Under Colorado River & the Southwest, Invasive Plants & Species

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