Thursday October 1, 2026
Maven’s Notebook —
Experts explain how prevention, early detection, and coordinated response can help protect California’s ecosystems, waterways, agriculture, and communities.
Invasive species are reshaping California’s landscapes, waterways, farms, and communities, creating challenges that span ecology, infrastructure, public health, and the economy. During the webinar Uninvited Guests: Protecting California from Invasive Species, hosted by California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, experts discussed how invasive species arrive, why early detection matters, and how state agencies, researchers, land managers, and the public are working to prevent new introductions and manage established threats.
What is an invasive species?
Dr. Jeff Dukes, senior staff scientist in the Division of Biosphere Science and Engineering at the Carnegie Institution for Science, opened the webinar by defining what makes a species invasive. An invasive species is a plant, animal, pathogen, or other organism that is not native to a particular place and causes—or is likely to cause—harm to the environment, the economy, or human health. In California, invasive species affect wildlands, waterways, farms, forests, and urban communities. They can crowd out native species, damage crops and infrastructure, alter fire and flood risks, spread disease, and disrupt the ecological relationships that native plants and animals depend on.