Invasive Species

Invasive Species page The Invasive Species Program (ISP) manages invasive species issues in the Tahoe Basin and consists of two sub programs; Terrestrial and Aquatic. The overall goal is to protect the Lake Tahoe Basin from invasive species by education and outreach, research, prevention, early detection, rapid response, and control. The Invasive Species Program’s mission is executed through successfully collaborating and coordinating with partners, which increases the ability to gather and share resources and information, standardize methods for treatment and data collection, and enhance early detection, control and eradication efforts.

What is a native species?

A native species is a plant or animal that naturally occurs in an area because it evolved there over time. Native species evolve together and populations never get out of control due to predators, competition and disease. In Lake Tahoe, our native species did not arrive by any human influence, they came naturally.

What is a non-native species?

Non-native species are also known as exotic or alien species. These species do not naturally occur in the areas in which they are found. They are usually introduced through human actions, either intentionally or unintentionally.

What are invasive species?

Sometimes non-native species can be detrimental to an ecosystem and other times they do no harm. Invasive species are the non-natives that are harmful to the ecosystem. They tend to out-compete the native species, causing environmental and economic problems.

Terrestrial Invasive Weeds

Plants that grow aggressively spread quickly and choke out native and other desirable plants from your neighborhood. They produce enormous amounts of seed, have spreading root systems, and lack natural predators. These traits enable them to dominate entire landscapes. Click here to learn how to identify Tahoe's priority invasive weeds.

Invasive weeds cause ecological problems by displacing native plants, reducing biodiversity, and altering normal ecological processes (e.g. nutrient cycling, water cycling) that help maintain functioning ecosystems. They also decrease wildlife habitat and increase soil erosion and stream sediment, which is damaging to water quality.

Invasive weeds cause economic problems by costing millions of dollars each year in weed control efforts and lost revenues. They reduce forage production for livestock and wildlife, decrease property values, reduce recreational values and uses and decrease tourism.

Aquatic Invasive Species

There are some aquatic invasive weeds and animals that exist in Lake Tahoe and some that are a threat. Aquatic invasive species harm Lake Tahoe by facilitating invasions of other non-native species and altering nutrient cycles and increasing algal growth in the lake by adding phosphorous to the water column thus contributing to clarity decline. Recreational uses such as swimming, boating and fishing are impacted due to invasive species clogging propellers and cooling intakes on boats.