Galveston Bay Invasive Species Risk Assessment Project

The Galveston Bay Estuary Program recently funded a risk assessment of invasive species of the Lower Galveston Bay Watershed. The project team consisted of staff from the Houston Advanced Research Center and the Environmental Institute of Houston at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

The Galveston Bay Invasive Species Risk Assessment Project accumulated and assessed existing information describing the identity, characteristics, and impacts of exotic species invading natural ecosystems in the Lower Galveston Bay Watershed.

A risk assessment was conducted to identify current and potential invasive species posing the greatest risk to the ecology and human uses of the Lower Galveston Bay Watershed. Species were also ranked according to their ability to be prevented or controlled and the status of resources available for the management of invasive species.

View the Galveston Bay Invasive Species Project presentation given at the 2004 Texas Coastal Issues Conference

Please click on the links below to download and review the Final Report in PDF format:

Visit these sites for more information about invasive species:

• EPA Gulf of Mexico Program Inventory of Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Occurring in the Gulf of Mexico Region
• Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission
• Invasivespecies.gov
• Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) global Invasive Species Database
• National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS)
• NBII Central Southwest Gulf Coast Information Node (CSWGCIN)
• NBII Invasive Species Node
• Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Exotic Species Regulations
• USDA Plants Database Exotic Species Regulations
• USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Fact Sheet Collection/Database

Photo Credits

• Chinese tallow ( Triadica sebifera ) and elephant ear ( Colocasia esculenta ) invading the shoreline of Armand Bayou in Houston, Texas, September 2003; Photo courtesy Brenda Weiser, EIH/UHCL
• Brazilian Peppertree ( Schinus terebinthifolius ), Hight, Stephen D., Image 0002012, www.invasive.org
• Channeled apple snail ( Pomacea canaliculata ) found along the shoreline of Armand Bayou in Houston, Texas 2003; Photo courtesy Dr. Brenda Weiser, EIH/UHCL
• Chinese tallow ( Triadica sebifera ), Miller, James H., Image 0016234, www.invasive.org
• Red imported fire ant ( Solenopsis invicta ), Bauer, Scott, Image 1321080, www.invasive.org
• Giant Salvinia (S alvinia molesta ), Biological Control USDA APHIS - Oxford, North Carolina Archives, Image 1148172, www.invasive.org
• Grass Carp ( Ctenopharyngodon idella ), Biological Control USDA APHIS - Oxford, North Carolina Archives, Image 1149123, www.invasive.org
• Chinese mitten crab ( Eriocheir sinensis ) , California Dept of Fish & Game, via www.gsmfc.org