Category: Invasive Species

Gardening

Think Before You Spray: Using Integrated Pest Management in Your Florida Landscape

by Sara MacDonald
September 3, 2026

See a bug on your plant? Don't spray it just yet. Finding an insect on your favorite plant can be alarming. You may wonder, “Is it hurting my plant?” or “How do I get rid of it?” Before reaching for a pesticide, take a closer look. That ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Home Management, Invasive Species, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Homeowner, IPM, Pests, UF/IFAS Extension St. Lucie County
stormy skies with palms and flag in foreground

Florida Land Steward Update, August 28, 2026

by Chris Demers
August 28, 2026

  HURRICANE SEASON IS RAMPING UP. ARE YOU READY? We are keeping an eye on Dolly, the next named tropical storm in the Atlantic. We’ve learned the hard way in recent years that powerful hurricanes can make their way inland and ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Disaster Preparation, Forests, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Recreation, SFYL Hot Topic, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Cogongrass, Drought, Florida Land Steward Program, Forest Health, Forest Landowner Academy, Hurricane Preparation, Hurricane Recovery, Hurricane Season, Landowner Assistance, Loblolly Pine, NRCS, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences, Wild Turkey
Photo of interns while capturing tegus, surveying alligator nests and capturing pythons.

Fighting Florida’s invasive species, UF/IFAS interns are on the front lines gaining hands-on experience

by Lourdes Mederos
August 27, 2026

From tracking pythons in Big Cypress National Preserve to trapping invasive tegus in South Florida, University of Florida students are stepping out of the classroom to gain hands-on experience in some of the state's most vulnerable ecosystems ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Invasive Species, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research, Wildlife
Tags: Argentine Black And White Tegu, Coservation, Ecosystems, Everglades National Park, Invasive Species, Pythons, Wildlife
a patch of invasive cogongrass in a pine stand

Florida Land Steward Update, August 21, 2026

by Chris Demers
August 21, 2026

  FALL IS A GOOD TIME TO TREAT THAT COGONGRASS If dealing with a patch of cogongrass is on your to-do list, it’s time to get ready for that treatment. The best time to treat cogongrass is during the fall months, which of course can ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Disaster Preparation, Forests, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Recreation, SFYL Hot Topic, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Cogongrass, Drought, Florida Land Steward Program, Forest Landowner Academy, Hurricane Preparation, Hurricane Recovery, Hurricane Season, Invasive Species, Landowner Assistance, Loblolly Pine, Ranchers, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences, Wild Turkey

What makes pastures more susceptible to pasture mealybugs?

by Marcelo Wallau
August 18, 2026

Authored by: Marcelo Wallau, UF/IFAS Forage Extension Specialist  Niguss Hailegnaw, UF/IFAS Assistant Professor of Crop Nutrient Management at the Everglades Research and Education Center  Pasture mealybug (PMB) is expanding across ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Invasive Species, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agronomy, Forages, Panhandle Agriculture, Pasture Mealybug, UF-IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
a solid stand of cogongrass along a roadside

Fall is Almost Here – It’s time to Gear Up to Fight Cogongrass and Other Invasive Plants

by Mark Mauldin
August 18, 2026

Without question, Cogongrass is the most troublesome invasive plant that I (and my clients) deal with. Here in Northwest Florida, we have a lot of it, and it is very difficult to manage. With that in mind, I write and teach about cogongrass ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Home Landscapes, Invasive Species, Natural Resources
Tags: Cogongrass, Invasive Plants, Panhandle Agriculture, Panhandle Outdoors, Vegetation Management

Florida Land Steward Update, August 14, 2026

by Chris Demers
August 14, 2026

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE TO NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA LANDOWNERS THROUGH THE SURFACE TO SPRINGS AND FOREST TO GULF REGIONAL CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS (RCPPs) Apply by September 30, 2026 North Florida landowners interested habitat ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Disaster Preparation, Forests, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Recreation, SFYL Hot Topic, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Drought, Florida Land Steward Program, Forest Landowner Academy, Hurricane Preparation, Hurricane Recovery, Hurricane Season, Landowner Assistance, Planted Pines, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences, Tree Farm, Wild Turkey

What do Elephants have to do with Bee Fences?

by Maria Quirico
August 11, 2026

MGV Giles Paget-Wilkes, self-described multi-national citizen and lead of the Discovery Gardens apiary, gave a fascinating talk on the development of Bee Fences on Mount Elgon in Kenya.       Map of Mount Elgon; Speaker MGV Giles Paget-Wilkes. Mount ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, Wildlife
Tags: African Bees, Bee Fences, Elephants, Human-Elephant Conflict, Kenya, Mount Elgon

Sargassum Summer: Florida’s 2026 Record Sargassum Bloom Is More Than a Beach Problem

by Dana Saunders
August 10, 2026

Quick Facts What it is: Sargassum is a free-floating brown seaweed that drifts across the open ocean. Where it comes from: The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, a massive accumulation of floating algae stretching from West Africa to the Gulf ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Events, Invasive Species, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research,
Tags: Department Of Microbiology And Cell Science, Sargassum Bloom, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, University Of Florida Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences

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