The province's watershed groups will come together Friday to discuss the challenges they face when working with invasive species.

Hosted by the PEI Invasive Species Council (PEIISC) with funding from the P.E.I. Wildlife Conservation Fund and the Friends of the Environment Foundation, the roundtable will give the groups an opportunity to brainstorm solutions on control and eradication.

The council describes an invasive species as any organism (plant, animal, insect, disease, etc.) that has become established outside of its native range, has a tendency to spread, and causes economic, ecological or social harm.

PEIISC said many of the watershed groups attended training events last summer as part of the PEI Invasive Species Spotter's Network, a group of professional and volunteers specially trained to identify and reporting new and uncommon invasive species.

The network's goal is to increase surveillance so the invaders can be eradicated or controlled before they have a chance to establish in P.E.I.

"For the PEIISC, watershed groups are a logical group to reach out to because of their position as community-environment links, their familiarity with the local landscape, their previous knowledge and interest in native species and biodiversity, and the fact that they are already geographically spread across P.E.I.," said the network's co-ordinator Julie-Lynn Zahavich.