2023 | Invasive Species Inventory & Management Plan

IGC Capstone Project | Interfaces of Global Change

A Community-Science Driven Invasive Species Inventory and Management Guide for Brush Mountain

Student Members:

• Jordan Coscia, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
• Forde Upshur, Biochemistry
• Bailey Howell, Biological Sciences
• Nicholas Bone, Biological Sciences

Faculty Mentors:

Invasive Species Working Group:

• Dr. Jacob Barney, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences 
• Dr. Bryan Brown, Biological Sciences
• Dr. David Haak, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences 
• Dr. Scott Salom, Entomology
• Dr. Todd Schenk, School of Public and International Affairs
• Dr. Emily Reed, Invasive Species Working Group, Postdoc

In a collaborative effort with the Invasive Species Working Group and the Town of Blacksburg Sustainability Chair, this capstone group organized and led a “BioBlitz”-style invasive species survey of Blacksburg’s recently acquired Brush Mountain Property 3. The survey was conducted by community member volunteers using the iNaturalist app and open biodiversity database. The students used this survey data to develop an R-based interactive dashboard that plots invasive species recorded in iNaturalist and displays their invasiveness scores and potential management options. This dashboard is designed to provide an up-to-date visualization of invasive species recorded in public parks throughout the Town of Blacksburg to inform future invasive species management decisions.

As part of their project they created the iNat-Viz, a Shiny application designed to visualize invasive species data from the iNaturalist platform. The application incorporates geographic, taxonomic, and management information to provide a comprehensive view of invasive species in a specified location. Currently it is set up to display Blacksburg's Brush Mountain property.