What is an invasive species?
An invasive species is an organism that is not native to an area and causes harm to the environment, the economy, or the health of plants, animals, or humans. Examples of invasive species include, but are not limited to, phragmites, garlic mustard, zebra and quagga mussels, Asian carp, and Asian longhorned beetles.
Phragmites
Garlic Mustard
What can we do to help?
Invasive species are a huge threat to native habitats and need to be prevented, removed, and managed as much as possible. Your local CISMA is the Southern Michigan Invasive Species Team and it services Branch, Hillsdale, and St. Joseph Counties. Our main goal is to detect and respond to both terrestrial and aquatic invasive species that threaten our community.
This partnership is funded through the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program and was awarded in January of 2018. This means that our program is just getting up and running, but we look forward to combating invasive species very soon.