Wags and weeds: Invasive plants meet match in detection dogs The latest weapon in the fight against invasive species is the sniffing power of dogs trained to find noxious weeds before they flower and spread seeds

TUXEDO, N.Y. -- The latest weapon in the fight against invasive species is the sniffing power of dogs trained to find noxious weeds before they flower and spread seeds.

The nonprofit New York-New Jersey Trail Conference has trained a Labrador retriever named Dia to find Scotch broom plants in two state parks 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of New York City. The invasive shrub is widespread in the Pacific Northwest but new to New York, and land managers hope to eradicate it before it gets established.

Detection dogs have long been used to sniff out drugs, explosives and disaster survivors. Now there's a growing number being trained to find targeted invasive plants so conservationists can uproot them.

Montana-based Working Dogs for Conservation is training dogs to find invasive insects and mussels as well as plants.