The Invaders of Texas Program is an innovative campaign whereby volunteer "citizen scientists" are trained to detect the arrival and dispersal of invasive species in their own local areas. That information is delivered into a statewide mapping database and to those who can do something about it. The premise is simple. The more trained eyes watching for invasive species, the better our chances of lessening or avoiding damage to our native landscape.
The Invaders of Texas Program supports the creation and perpetuation of a network of local citizen scientist teams who seek out and report outbreaks of selected environmentally and economically harmful invasive species. These teams, coordinated by the Wildflower Center, contribute important data to local and national resource managers who will, in turn, coordinate appropriate responses to control the spread of unwanted invaders. The Invaders Program is designed to move the target audience beyond awareness to action on invasive species.
The original Invaders program was developed by a consortium of Botanic Gardens, Natural History Museums, Zoos, and Aquaria in partnership with Sea Studios Foundation, National Geographic and Vulcan Productions. It was launched on April 20 when National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet Earth TV series premiered its opening episode about invaders on PBS. The first Invaders program, Invaders of the Sonoran Desert Region, was developed by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM).
To learn more about the Invaders of Texas Program,
Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum
Lady
Bird Johnson Wildflower
Missouri
Botanical Garden
New England
Aquarium
North
Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Woodland
Park Zoo
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Texas Forest Service
Texas Parks and Wildlife
USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection
U.S. Forest Service, National Forests and Grasslands in Texas
TPWD Horned Lizard License Plate Fund supports Invaders of Texas Project. Show your support! Put a Horned Lizard plate on your vehicle and help conserve wildlife diversity by funding projects that help protect native species.