Aquatic Invasive Species Guide Version 3 Available

The next iteration of the Lake Champlain Aquatic Invasive Species Guide is now available in print and online. This new version has updated current distributions, added profiles of look-alike species, updated species images, and added new anatomy diagrams. A few of the new watch species added to the guide include: water hyacinth, starry stonewart, and red-swamp crayfish.

The Lake Champlain Basin is home to a number of nonnative and invasive species that cause economic and ecological harm to our ecosystem. Federal, state, and provincial partners of the Lake Champlain Basin Program from New York, Vermont, and Quebéc have identified invasive species management as one of the highest priorities in Opportunities for Action, a management plan for Lake Champlain.

This guide highlights a number of high priority non-native invasive plants, animals, and invertebrates that are known to exist within the basin and introduces high-priority invaders that users should be on the lookout for when in the basin. Species inclusion in this guide was based on partner input, reviewed by the LCBP Aquatic Nuisance Species Subcommittee, and the Lake Champlain Basin Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan and does not include all known aquatic invasive species in or threatening the basin. This booklet was developed to ensure that Lake Champlain stakeholders—such as boaters and anglers, law enforcement staff, lakeshore property owner groups, park managers and others—have the skills to recognize potentially harmful non-native species in the field. It was compiled by the Lake Champlain Basin Program Aquatic Nuisance Species Subcommittee Spread Prevention Workgroup. Funding for this guide was supported by the National Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force.

Download a copy of the guide here.

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