People spreading coqui

[Mitzi M]

I'll have to admit I liked their advice about abandoning bras...but about the coqui's? Hmmm... It seems to me that there IS one very positive thing about the coqui frogs - they have given a voice (and a loud one) to the ongoing alien species invasion in Hawai'i. I know that some people have organized here in the past to control alien plants, but the reaction has been nowhere near as large and sensational as the coqui. Suddenly people all over the island are noticing there's something different, it's loud and annoying and it may even affect their propery values. It's not a crime yet to purposely spread the much quieter strawberry guava, albizia, or fountain grass - but maybe it should be. Interestingly, many invasive plants have arrived here from some of the same sources as the coqui - loads of potted nursery plants coming to Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowes. Wal-Mart in Hilo currently carries several ornamental plants that pose a high risk of becoming invasive, including medinilla, a melastome related to Koster's curse. Lowes in Kailua was reportedly selling strawberry guava not long ago. There is a list of plants banned from importation to Hawai'i, and it's a start, but it's evident there's a lot more to be done, especially sine most of the plants that wound up being invasive here were first brought as ornamental landscape plants. Much less attention has been given to the invasive plant issue, but now we are seeing that it's all part of a larger invasive species problem.

Just a couple of factoids for some perspective: invasive species (plant and animal) are now the number one threat to Hawai'i's ecosytems. It's estimated that before the time of human habitation, only 1 species made it to the Hawaiian Islands and sucessfully reproduced and established itself every 35 to 50 thousand years. Pretty slow, eh? But now there are 20-30 new species arriving every year, some of which, like the coqui, have become invasive pests. This link from the PIER project lists many invasive plants and has a lot of other good info.

http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/hortweeds/

As for the coquis - they're really loud and annoying, and now that they've got our attention....


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