11th Annual Invasive Species Mapping Challenge
During the month of July, we challenge you to submit reports to iMap for our selected focal species to help fill data gaps and compete to win!
2
Throughout July - go outside and check for the selected species you're most interested in.
3
Report back to iMap - whether you find it or not!
The observers with the most records (including not-detected reports!) for all species will win a prize! You might even help win a trophy for your PRISM!
2025 Mapping Challenge Map
Meet the species
Click the icons below each species picture for the following resources
Quick video on identifying the species
Map of the currently known distribution
A link to more info on the species
Flowering rush
Butomus umbellatus
Leafy spurge
Euphorbia virgata
Black jetbead
Rhodotypos scandens
Beech scale
Cryptococcus fagisuga
Beech Leaf Disease
Litylenchus crenatae mccanii
English ivy
Hedera helix
Search for these species and report Presence and Not-detected records to iMapInvasives! View our quick setup playlist.
*** The challenge includes Not-Detected Records! ***
Searching for these species but can't find them in your area? Make sure you are checking the correct habitat, and record in iMap that you searched for the species but did not find it (select "not-detected" in the mobile app). Be sure to enter the number of minutes you spent looking around in "time searched"!
Leafy spurge
Black Jetbead
Beech Leaf Disease
Flowering Rush
Full sun, open areas, fields, and roadsides
Shady areas, forest understories
To check for BLD, you have to find a Beech tree, common in many NY forests
Slow-moving or stagnant water (lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams)
2025 Challenge Results
Thank you to all who participated in 2025! We received over 500 records, with points in all eight PRISMs!
Individual winner:
Brittany H.
PRISM winners:
1st - Lower Hudson PRISM
2nd - Western NY PRISM
3rd - Capital Region PRISM
Note: the total observations for each species by PRISM and observer are based on the number of unique populations reported (defined as records 100m or more apart, like the species tiers analysis), rather than raw record numbers. Confirmed presence records and not-detected records were considered.