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Wildland WeedsWildland WeedsPrsrt std
U.S. PostagePAID
Gainesville, FLPermit No. 726
SUMMER 2003SUMMER 2003
The Last MelaleucaThe Last Melaleuca
Direct all editorial and advertising inquiries to:Karen Brown, EditorWildland Weeds7922 NW 71st StreetGainesville, FL 32653352/392-1799; FAX 352/[email protected]
Direct address changes to:Jackie SmithDEP - Invasive Plant Management3111-B13 Fortune WayWellington, FL 33414561/791-4720; FAX 561/[email protected]
Editorial Committee:Mike BodleKathy Craddock BurksJim CudaTom FucignaKen Langeland
WILDLAND WEEDS 3
OfficersMike Bodle, ChairPO Box 24680West Palm Beach, FL
33416-4680561/[email protected]
Heidi Rhoades, Secretary110 NE 8th StDelray Beach, FL 33444561/[email protected]
Kristina Kay Serbesoff-King, Treasurer
3301 Gun Club RoadWest Palm Beach, FL 33406561/[email protected]
Karen Brown, Editor7922 NW 71st StreetGainesville, FL 32653352/[email protected]
Ken Langeland, ImmediatePast Chair7922 NW 71st StreetGainesville, FL 32653352/[email protected]
DirectorsJim BurneyAquatic Vegetation Control,
Inc.6753 Garden Road, Suite 109Riviera Beach, FL 33404561/[email protected]
Kathy Craddock BurksFlorida Dept. Environmental
Protection3800 Commonwealth Blvd.,
MS 705Tallahassee, FL 32399850/245-2809 Ext. [email protected]
JB MillerFlorida Park Service1000 Favor Dykes RoadSt. Augustine, FL 32086904/[email protected]
Tom FucignaR.L. Weigt Environmental
Consultants, Inc.12063 SE Juno CrescentHobe Sound, FL 33455561/545-9672
Andrea Van LoanDivision of Forestry1911 SW 34th StreetGainesville, FL 32068352/372-3505 Ext. [email protected]
Bill SnyderNational Park ServiceOchopee, FL 34141941/[email protected]
John VolinFlorida Atlantic University2912 College Ave.Davie, FL 33314954/[email protected]
Jim CudaUniversity of FloridaEntomology DepartmentPO Box 110620Gainesville, FL 32611352/392-1901 Ext. [email protected]
Committee ChairsBy-lawsDennis Giardina3770 19th Avenue SWNaples, FL 34117941/[email protected]
CAST RepresentativeDennis GiardinaKen Langeland (alternate)
EditorialKaren Brown
EducationLeesa SoutoMidwest Research Institute1470 Treeland Blvd SEPalm Bay, FL 32909-2211321/723-4547 Ext. [email protected]
FNGA/FLEPPC LiaisonDoria GordonUniversity of FloridaPO Box 118526Gainesville, FL 32611-8526352/[email protected]
LegislativeMatthew KingPalm Beach County3323 Belvedere Rd, Bldg. 502West Palm Beach, FL 33406561/[email protected]
Local ArrangementsTony PernasEverglades National Park40001 SR 9336Homestead, FL 33034305/[email protected]
MembershipAndrea Van Loan
MerchandiseBill Snyder
NominationsKen Langeland
Plant ListKathy Craddock Burks
Program ChairJackie SmithDEP - Invasive Plant
Management3111-B13 Fortune WayWellington, FL 33414561/791-4720; FAX 561/[email protected]
ResearchJohn Volin
TrainingJim Burney
VendorsScott DitmarsenDow AgroSciences813/[email protected]
WebmasterTony Pernas
Work GroupsAustralian PinesRobert EganHabitat Restoration
Resources1495 Coral Point DriveCape Coral, FL [email protected]
Brazilian PepperJim Cuda
CarrotwoodChris LockhartHabitat Specialists, Inc.PO Box 3116Boynton Beach, FL
33424-3116561/[email protected]
DioscoreaMike Bodle
GrassesGreg MacDonaldUniversity of FloridaAgronomy DepartmentPO Box 110500Gainesville, FL 32611-0500352/392-1811 Ext. [email protected]
LygodiumAmy Ferriter/Tom FucignaSFWMDPO Box 24680West Palm Beach, FL 33416561/[email protected]
SkunkvineBrian NelsonSWFWMD2379 Broad StreetBrooksville, FL 34609-6899352/[email protected]
Chinese TallowCheryl [email protected]
MelaleucaFrancois LarocheSFWMDPO Box 24680West Palm Beach, FL
33416-4680561/[email protected]
FLORIDA EXOTIC PEST PLANT COUNCIL
Wildland Weeds (ISSN 1524-9786) is a quarterly publicationof the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC) and theSoutheast Exotic Pest Plant Council (SE-EPPC).
Wildland Weeds is published to provide a focus for theissues and concerns regarding exotic pest plant biology,distribution and control. To become a member of theFlorida EPPC and receive the Council newsletter andWildland Weeds magazine, contact the Treasurer.
Wildland WeedsWildland WeedsSUMMER 2003, VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3
Visit these websites:Florida EPPC: www.fleppc.org
Southeast EPPC: www.se-eppc.org
California EPPC: www.caleppc.org
Table of Contents4 On the Cover
5 Ranking System Aids Land Managers in Control ofInvasive Species by Sara J. Drake
6 Exotic Plant Management through the Seasons atGreat Smoky Mountains National Parkby Kristine Johnson
10 Detecting Invasive Exotic Plants by Bob Doren
11 The Asheville Bittersweet Sweep by Dick Bir
12 National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week IV by Nelroy Jackson
14 Control of Regrowth from Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera L.) Bulbils by Craig Duxbury,Scott Glasscock and Iwona Staniszewska
17 FLEPPC Springs up at the TBWG’s Spring ExpoTrade Show by Andrea Van Loan
18 MS-EPPC Cogongrass Symposium by Lisa Yager
20 Internodes
21 In Memory of Randel F. Poppel
21 Supporters of this issue of Wildland Weeds
22 Notes from the Disturbed Edge
On the Cover:The Last Melaleuca.See article on page 4.Photo by Tony Pernas.
The Florida Exotic PestPlant Council has nottested any of the productsadvertised or referred toin this publication, norhas it verified any of thestatements made in any ofthe advertisements orarticles. The Councildoes not warrant,expressly or implied, thefitness of any productadvertised or the suitabili-ty of any advice or state-ments contained herein.
4 SUMMER 2003
National Park Service Director Fran P. Mainella waits, herbi-cide in hand, as forestry technician Bill Snyder performs the sym-bolic cutting of the last mature melaleuca tree in the 729,000 acreBig Cypress National Preserve in south Florida. “The NationalPark Service has been treating melaleuca in Big Cypress NationalPreserve since 1984 and has dealt with about 14 million stems atlast count,” said Mainella. “We know this war will go on but weare marking a major victory in the initial effort to eradicate thisdifficult exotic species.”
The Park Service has used Integrated Pest Management in itstreatment of melaleuca, including biological, chemical, controlledfire and mechanical methods. Big Cypress Superintendent John J.Donahue says the national preserve has spent approximately $3.5million on contracts and in-house crews since 1984 to bring thespecies under control. The cutting of the last mature melaleucameans “we are not treating new infestations in the preserve, butrather revisiting treated sites to ensure no seedlings are re-estab-lishing new stands,” he said. “There still is a need for continuedfunding for re-treatment of melaleuca to ensure it stays under con-trol. However, this success proves that it can be contained andeliminated.”
-Compiled from a National Park Service news release
Tide Turns in War on MelaleucaCeremony celebrates completion of the initial treatment
of melaleuca in Big Cypress National Preserve
on the cover
• Proven product performance• Returnable, refillable
containers with dry lock valves• Experienced sales force
WILDLAND WEEDS 5
pproximately 5000 non-nativeinvasive plant species inhabitthe U.S. and they make their
presence felt—$35 billion annually forlosses, damages, and control measures(Pimentel et al. 1999). Since the impactof invasive species on our ecosystems andeconomy is immense, most land man-agers recognize the need for action. Withlimited funds, time, and personnel,though, they must prioritize their efforts.But where to begin such an arduous task?
The “Alien Plants Ranking System”developed by the United StatesGeological Survey provides a startingpoint (APRS Implementation Team 2000)for determining which species are mostproblematic. The system uses a querymethod to amass information aboutspecies characteristics as well as featuresof the invaded community. Twenty-threemultiple-choice questions are assembledinto three sections: I) Significance ofThreat or Impact, II) Innate Ability toBecome a Pest, and III) Difficulty ofControl. Examples of some queries are,“areal extent of populations,” “mode ofreproduction,” and “competitive ability.”These queries zero in on attributes com-monly associated with invasive speciesand susceptible ecosystems.
Ranking System Implementation In collaboration with Jake Weltzin,
plant ecologist at the University ofTennessee, Knoxville, and Oak RidgeNational Laboratory Area Manager, PatParr, I tested the usefulness of the system.The Department of Energy’s NationalEnvironmental Research Park (Research
Park) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee contains167 non-native invasive plant species, 42of which are classified as “aggressive”(Oak Ridge Reservation Exotic PestPlants 2001). I selected 18 of the mostprevalent species and ranked them usingthe “Alien Plants Ranking System.”During the summer of 2000, I surveyed16 natural areas encompassing a total of1,457 hectares and visually noted thedensity and distribution of the 18 species.These observations were supplementedwith published data from the ecologicalliterature and entered into the rankingsystem.
Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegiumvimineum) ranked highest, or most prob-lematic, mainly because of its impact onecosystems and how difficult it is to con-trol. Microstegium is present in most dis-turbed areas of the Research Park as wellas in many natural areas. It can be foundgrowing along roadsides and often pene-trates forested areas, resulting in a dense,monotypic carpet. This weed is difficultto control because it has an extensiveseed bank and spreads rapidly, out-com-peting native species.
Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicerajaponica) ranked second-most problemat-ic and was prevalent in early- to mid-suc-cessional forests in the Research Park.Also prevalent in these forests wasChinese privet (Ligustrum sinense),which tied with kudzu (Pueraria lobata)for third place. Chinese privet oftenforms thick, impenetrable stands withrelatively shady understories. Birds dis-perse Chinese privet’s copious fruits,while asexual reproduction also helps it
spread. Kudzu reproduces both sexuallyand asexually, but unlike privet, it wasfound in only a few locations on theResearch Park. The low density of kudzuacross the Research Park may be due to itspurported small number of viable seeds.
Ranking fifth was multiflora rose(Rosa multiflora), a shrubby weed foundmostly along roadsides and fencerows.Multiflora rose also is spread by birds andhas an extensive seed bank that can per-sist for 20 years. Chinese lespedeza(Lespedeza cuneata) came in sixth andoccurred only in more recently disturbedareas, such as along roads and in powerline rights-of-way. Additional ResearchPark ranking results can be found inDrake, Weltzin, and Parr (2003).
The “Alien Plants Ranking System”produced satisfactory results consistentwith species ranking designations fromother organizations, such as theTennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council(2001). Results of this research can beused to prioritize management efforts foreradication of invasive species on theResearch Park. Additionally, this workprovides impetus for other land managersto utilize the “Alien Plants RankingSystem” as a tool when controlling inva-sive species.
For more information or to use theAlien Plants Ranking System, go towww.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/2000/aprs/aprs.htm
For more information, contact Sara J. Drake atthe Department of Plant Biology, The Universityof Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-7271;[email protected]
Ranking System Aids Land Managers in Control of Invasive Species
A
ReferencesAlien Plant Ranking System (APRS) Implementation Team. 2000. Alien plants ranking system version 5.1. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page, Jamestown, NorthDakota. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/2000/aprs/aprs.htm. (Version 17FEB2000).
Drake, S.J., Weltzin, J.F., and P.D. Parr. 2003. Assessment of Non-Native Invasive Plant Species on the United States Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Environmental ResearchPark. Castanea 68(1):15-30.
Oak Ridge Reservation Exotic Pest Plants. 2001. Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park. http://www.esd.ornl.gov/facilities/nerp/Exotlst1.xls. Cited 12 Apr 2001.
Pimentel, D., Loch, L., Zuniga, R., and Morrison, D. 1999. Environmental and Economic Costs Associated with Non-Indigenous Species in the United States.http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Jan99/species_costs.html Cited 7 Mar 03.
Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council. 2001. Invasive Exotic Pest Plants in Tennessee. Research Committee of the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council. http://www.se-eppc.org/states/TN/TN1List.html. Cited 4 June 2002.
by Sara J. Drake
6 SUMMER 2003
IntroductionThe official mandate of the National Park Service (NPS) is
“to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects andthe wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the samein such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpairedfor the enjoyment of future generations.” When this guidelinewas set forth in the 1916 Organic Act that established theNational Park Service, no one’s worst nightmares could have fore-told the threats our national parks face in 2003: poor air quality,urban sprawl at the boundaries, and a tremendous influx of exot-ic species. Still, the earliest NPS policies provide protection forthe biological diversity of native species (from genetic throughcommunity levels) and for the prevention and control of exoticspecies, which constitute a primary threat. Additional guide-lines were established in 1999, when President Clinton issuedExecutive Order 13112 directing all federal agencies to: (i) pre-vent the introduction of invasive species; (ii) detect and respondrapidly to and control populations of such species in a cost-effec-tive and environmentally sound manner; (iii) monitor invasivespecies populations accurately and reliably; (iv) provide forrestoration of native species and habitat conditions in ecosystemsthat have been invaded; (v) conduct research on invasive speciesand develop technologies to prevent introduction and provide forenvironmentally sound control of invasive species; and (vi) pro-mote public education on invasive species and the means toaddress them.
At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, some of the earli-est exotic invaders included chestnut blight, European wild boarand rainbow trout (introduced in the first part of the past centu-ry), balsam woolly adelgid, dogwood anthracnose, beech barkdisease, hemlock woolly adelgid, and butternut canker. There arealso around 380 species of exotic plants that remain from oldhomesites or have invaded disturbed areas such as roadsides,wildland fires, or construction sites. The National Park Servicemanages only about 50 exotic plant species: those known to beinvasive enough to displace native plant communities, hybridizewith natives, or interfere with cultural landscapes.
The history of exotic plant management at the Smokies goesback to the 1940’s, when fire control aides spent some of their off-season time on eradication of kudzu at old homesites. This earlywork provided a good foundation for the expanded resourcemanagement program that began in the 1980s to implement anintegrated pest management program. A team of botanists fromthe University of Tennessee (Drs. Ed Clebsch, Richard Clements,and Gene Wofford) conducted a baseline inventory of invasiveexotic plants. Strategies then were developed to control eachplant based on the species biology.
Control methods include hand pulling, mechanical cutting,and selective use of herbicides. The latter are carefully chosen forminimal environmental impact and used as sparingly as possible.Currently nearly 800 exotic plant sites are documented in the
Park’s database. All treatments and monitoring activities arerecorded, and the database is referenced to an ArcviewGeographic Information System.
To every thing there is a season…Timing is crucial in an effective Integrated Pest Management
program. For example, seed dispersal must be prevented in manyspecies; action must be taken against garlic mustard by the end ofApril, while privet and multiflora rose don’t have mature fruituntil late summer. Impact on non-target plants can be greatlyreduced if treatments can be made during the dormant sea-son. And since Japanese barberry produces leaves much earlier inspring than most natives, the seedlings are easy to spot and pullin early April.
Each of the following plants is well documented as invasivein the Mid-Atlantic States and all are expanding their range in theSouthern Appalachians.
Early Spring Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a biennial herb in the
mustard family. First recorded in the U.S. around 1868 fromLong Island, New York, it was introduced by European settlersas a medicinal herb. Its leaves have a garlic-like odor whencrushed, and its white flowers develop into prolific tiny seeds
with very high germination rates and via-bility in soil for up to ten years. The Parkhas five established garlic mustard sites.Several other sites were discovered neartrailheads (perhaps seeds came off hikers’boots or vehicles) and the plants wereremoved before seeds were produced. Ofthe established sites, four probably startedduring construction projects when seeds
were brought into the Park with straw, contaminated seed mix,or soil. In recent years, the Park has adopted more stringentstandards for imported construction materials, since preven-tion is preferable to subsequent years of control efforts. Thefifth site is a riparian area where seeds apparently washed infrom a tributary outside the Park or from a nearby road. Sincegarlic mustard is not perennial, its root systems usually are notextensive or deep, and the goal is to prevent seed set. Plantscan be hand-pulled any time prior to bloom, which is usuallyApril in East Tennessee. An established site (where seed pro-duction has occurred for a year or more) must be monitoredfor at least ten years to insure that no plants germinate. Overthe past eight years, Park workers have removed 78,652 garlicmustard plants from Big Creek Campground, 23,617 fromBalsam Mountain Campground, 21,850 from CosbyCampground, 15,663 from the Maloney Point Overlook, and10,610 from Caney Creek near the boundary at Pigeon Forge.These figures indicate the exponential potential expansion ofgarlic mustard, which easily out-competes native spring flora.
Exotic Plant Management through the Seasonsat Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Kristine Johnson
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
WILDLAND WEEDS 7
Because all but the Maloney Point site are in areas with richnative flora, we have chosen the very labor-intensive hand-pulling method over herbicide.
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) also is found in disturbedareas. One site within the Park is a roadside at high elevationand the second is a wildland fire area several miles from thePark boundary. Seeds may have been introduced to the fire siteon firefighters’ clothing or tools, or may have blown in from adistance. Over 520 plants were pulled in the past two yearsfrom the Wedge Ridge fire site, which burned in 2000.Coltsfoot is a perennial in the Aster family and somewhatresembles a dandelion, with a yellow flower and light, wind-blown seeds. Like garlic mustard, it was brought to America byEuropean settlers as a medicinal herb. Coltsfoot can be hand-pulled to prevent seed set, but it also spreads vegetatively andhas an extensive root system. Park workers made an alarmingdiscovery last year when root segments an inch or more in sizewere potted up and within a few weeks had grown into entirenew plants!
Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) was introduced asan ornamental shrub in 1875 and is still widely used as a land-scape plant. It spreads vegetatively but also produces prolificseeds that can be distributed for miles by birds and small mam-mals. It is shade tolerant and can form dense stands in a vari-ety of habitats, from closed canopy forests to pastures. Thereare two barberry sites in the Park, and in both cases a few orig-inal shrubs have produced thousands of seedlings spread overseveral acres. At the Twin Creeks site, 1,048 seedlings werepulled in the past 8 years, originating from only one ‘mother’shrub. At Elkmont, 2,839 seedlings have been pulled over thepast 8 years, again originating from two large shrubs. Theseedlings can be hand-pulled, and April is a good time to spotthem because barberry produces new leaves earlier than mostnative deciduous plants. Larger shrubs are cut and stump-treat-ed with glyphosate.
Late spring Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) has leafed out by late April
and early May, somewhat ahead of most native shrubs and thuseasily visible. Small clumps of rose are easily treated by basalbark applications of triclopyr/oil in other seasons, but densethickets of rose have been successfully treated with foliar appli-cations of glyphosate. The Little Cataloochee section of the Parkis a remote area where old homesites have been overgrown bymultiflora rose that was planted in the 1930’s as an erosion con-trol (just prior to the Park’s establishment). We estimate that bythe late 1980’s, when control was begun, over 12 contiguousacres of rose grew in thickets of various sizes throughout theLittle Cataloochee area. Herbicide applications in this area aredifficult due to the remote location (work crews must camp out)and the distance from water. In order to mix herbicide, watermust be pumped up to holding tanks using equipment fromwildland firefighting operations including portable pumps, firehose and folding tanks. Now that native plants occupy many ofthe former rose sites, treatments are still performed in spring toreduce non-target impacts and for easier access.
Summer June and July are the best times to survey for paulownia or
princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa), mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)and ailanthus or tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), since theseinvasive trees bloom during that time.Seedlings are hand-pulled, but larger stemsmust be cut and stump treated. One of ourmost difficult sites overall has been a 500acre wildfire site that burned in the summerof 1999 and was subsequently invaded bypaulownia, ailanthus and woolly or com-mon mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Seeds ofthese plants blew in from large infestationsjust outside the Park boundary and quickly became establishedon the mineral soil left by the fire. Thousands of seedlings havebeen removed; some areas averaged 40 paulownia seedlings peracre. With no canopy left in many parts of the burned area,paulownia was in good position to become a dominant species.In November 2001 one of the largest fires in Park history burned7000 acres on the North Carolina side of the Park. Unfortunatelythe southern boundary of the fire, just outside the Park, was anold municipal watershed area badly infested with paulownia andailanthus. The Park received funds through fire rehabilitation tobegin surveying and controlling exotics on this fire site.
Chinese yam (Dioscorea oppositifolia) is treated prior to itssummer production of bulbils. Glyphosate and triclopyr are botheffective on yam.
Exotic Invasive Site Locations 2002
Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)
Crew after a hard day of killing paulownia on the Blacksmith 500 acre fire site.
8 SUMMER 2003
By August, it’stime to treat the fewremaining kudzu(Pueraria lobata) andwisteria (Wisteriafloribunda) sites leftat old homesites. ThePark has document-ed 130 kudzu sites
but, thanks to the hard work of thosebefore us, only a few are still active. Inrecent years we have used the herbicidesTransline in areas away from water andAccord near streams for control of both
kudzu and wisteria. Some of the sites arevery remote now and require hiking sev-eral miles with equipment.
Our field trials for control of sericialespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) indicatebest results from late summer treatments,which conveniently coincide withapproaching fall frosts so that largebrownout areas are not noticeable intreated fields. Our largest areas of les-pedeza are in Cades Cove, where les-pedeza and fescue were planted in the1950s-1970s. Garlon 4 and Escort are themost effective herbicides for lespedeza.
Fall/WinterDormant season treatments can
begin once frost has ended the growingseason for all but the evergreens. Privet(Ligustrum sp.), Japanese honeysuckle(Lonicera japonica), vinca (Vinca minor),winter creeper (Euonymous fortunei) andEnglish ivy (Hedera helix) can all be treat-ed with minimal non-target impact.Foliar applications are possible on dayswhen temperatures rise above 60ºF.Garlon 4 and Accord are both effective onthese plants, although Garlon appears to work more quickly. Basal bark and cut/stump methods also are used onprivet, depending on the site.
Our biggest challenges are findingenough personnel (paid and volunteer)for the labor-intensive work, and pre-venting new invasions from sites outsidePark boundaries. Recently we havemade good progress in cooperating withPark maintenance and contractors toprevent introductions from using filldirt, hydroseeding, and other construc-tion activities. Straw is no longer usedfor mulch/erosion control because of thebarnyard weeds that came with even‘clean’ straw, and if fill dirt must bebrought from outside the Park, the siteof origin is inspected first for weeds. ThePark has been able to persuade someneighboring landholders to control theirown exotics (especially those that pro-duce seeds carried by birds or wind), butmany are unable or unwilling to cooper-ate. We hope that through the ExoticPest Plant Councils and other educa-tional programs, the general public willbecome more aware of the threats exoticplants pose to our natural areas, so thatwe may “leave them unimpaired for theenjoyment of future generations.”
Kristine Johnson is Supervisory Forester atGreat Smoky Mountain National Park and canbe reached via e-mail at [email protected]
More information can be found at:• Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council,
www.tn-eppc.org • Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council,
www.se-eppc.org • University of Tennessee Botany Department,
http://tenn.bio.utk.edu Park visitors who find any of these plants in the Park can notify the vegetation managementsection at 865-436-1707.
Wisteria (Wisteria floribunda)
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10 SUMMER 2003
The South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force andWorking Group’s invasive species arm, the Noxious ExoticWeed Task Team (NEWTT), held a workshop and conferenceto answer basic questions about the detection and mapping ofinvasive exotic plants.
The first day covered technical aspects of the different meth-ods of remote sensing, imaging technologies, scaling, computerstorage and retrieval considerations, and equipment. The secondday covered existing applications of field and remote sensing andmodeling applications to assist managers in finding and managinginvasive plant populations. The third day was a series of workshopdiscussions based on topics from the previous two days, and pre-defined conference questions and goals. The discussions related topractical applications, enhancing existing programs, and helpingagencies integrate these concepts into their work.
Three overarching issues became apparent:1. Remote sensing using imaging systems (photographs, the-
matic imagers, etc.) is generally not applicable or practical ininstances where both very detailed and high-resolutionresults are required, or where extremely large areas are beingcovered. In the case of extremely large areas of coverage,modeling seems to be developing as a practical alternativetool for locating the most probable locations of exotics.
2. Simple, low-tech and low-cost tools are essential to field man-
agers who are on the ground trying to find and control invasivespecies. In most instances, managers are not remote sensing spe-cialists and have extremely limited budgets. The most importantaspect for them is to find the plants and control them.
3. Existing low-tech field remote sensing methods are practical,cost-effective, and achieve basic agency aims; however thereis general agreement that these methods are not sufficient tomeet other critical information needs such as repeatability,re-treatment information, ecological and landscape use rela-tionships, and areal extent and invasion rate calculations. Inparticular, more precision is needed in spatial coordinates forspecies locations. The expert panel members felt this was themost important improvement that could be made and wascritical to future GIS spatial analyses and prediction.
These points will provide direction and guidance duringpreparation of a comprehensive report of the conference results.The report is intended to be a “user’s manual” for developingand implementing a cross-agency program for detection, map-ping and assessment of invasive exotic plants. The report willinclude a sufficient number of different approaches and map-ping scales to provide most users with reliable, repeatable andinteroperable methods for the majority of different needs.
For more information, contact Robert Doren, South FloridaEcosystem Restoration Task Force, [email protected]
M E E T I N G R E S U LT S
Detecting Invasive Exotic PlantsApproaches for the Florida Landscape, February 12-14, 2003by Bob Doren
WILDLAND WEEDS 11
The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of ournational treasures. This naturally land-scaped roadway allows millions of peopleto view the splendor of the southern moun-tains in comfort and supplies access tosuperb highlands hiking. The forested cor-ridor provides interstate respite for driverspassing through Asheville, as well as habi-tat for wildlife, and it both shelters andaffords access to the Mountain-to-Sea hik-ing trail. This sanctuary is a green bridgebetween larger parts of the surroundingmountain national forests as well.
Recently this beautiful Parkway cor-ridor has come under attack. Pine barkbeetles, gypsy moths, adelgids and inva-sive plants are among the exotic invasivethreats to this jewel in the Department ofInterior’s crown. During fall, when visi-tors arrive in droves to admire the vibrantcolors, nothing is more noticeable amongthe attackers than Oriental bittersweet,Celastrus orbiculatus. This prolific woodyvine can be seen draping trees and stran-gling and smothering shrubs, threateningthe very existence of native azaleas,mountain laurels and wildflowers.Oriental bittersweet’s golden fruit husksopen to display the deep red-orangefruits, as the foliage turns a clear, brightyellow. Multitudes of seedlings growunder trees tightly wrapped in bitter-sweet. As a result, for a few weeks it iseasy to spot Oriental bittersweet,although removing it and liberating thenative flora is more of a problem.
Unfortunately, these threats havearrived in an era when resources withinthe Department of Interior are stretchedthin. Fortunately, however, JaneHargreaves, who lives near the Parkwayand regularly hikes the Mountain-to-Seatrail, noticed the increase in bittersweetand the negative effect it was having onher beloved native mountain flora. Sheformed a group of concerned citizens, theAsheville Weed Team, to do somethingabout the problem. Under the directionof Dr. Chris Ulrey, botanist for the BlueRidge Parkway, they mapped a strategy todramatically decrease the Oriental bitter-sweet population along the Asheville cor-ridor of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
This relatively small but dedicatedgroup of volunteers met at Parkway head-quarters on the foggy, drizzly Saturdaymorning of October 26, 2002. They weretrained in plant identification, which waseasy since there was only one target
plant. Each volunteer was issued a brightorange vest provided by the NorthCarolina Arboretum, instructed in safetyincluding how far to stay off the pavedroad, separated into work groups andthen assigned an area to weed. There wasa licensed pesticide applicator in eachgroup who was the only one allowed toapply the triclopyr used on cut stemswhen bittersweet vines were too large tobe hand pulled (some were 4 or moreinches in diameter).
It was wet, dirty work but also verysatisfying. College professors and stu-dents worked side by side with botanists,bakers, nurserywomen, environmental-ists, retirees and landscapers. All we hadin common was a love for the parkwayand the native flora that was being smoth-ered by the invasive exotic Oriental bitter-sweet. We worked most of the day…tosweaty exhaustion for most of us.
We know that we have made a dra-matic impact but also know that there isa tremendous seed bank and that we didnot get every Oriental bittersweetseedling. We have no illusions that whatwe have done is a permanent change, butwhat we have done is give the existingnative azaleas, mountain laurels, spicebushes, sweetshrubs and springephemerals a chance. We hope to returnto give them an even better chance in thefuture. The group has planned a similarweed pull at the Western North CarolinaNature Center in late winter and they aremeeting regularly to discuss how toaccomplish their common goal of freeingtheir home city of invasive exotic plants.
An interesting spin-off of this unpub-licized activity is that in the process oforganizing the bittersweet sweep, Janetalked with Julie Ball, a reporter for theAsheville Citizen-Times newspaper. Ms.Ball wrote a feature article on Orientalbittersweet and the problems it presents.The Associated Press picked up the arti-cle and within a few days the bittersweetstory had made its way to Winston-Salemand Raleigh newspapers. Reports havecome that her bittersweet featureappeared in newspapers from the WallStreet Journal to South Georgia. Whenyou start controlling invasives, you neverknow where the trail will lead.
For more information on thisspecies, go to: www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/ceor1.htm or www.tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs/celaorbi.html
For more information, contact Dick Bir, NC-EPPC, at [email protected]
The Asheville Bittersweet Sweep
CENTRAL FLORIDA NEAR LEESBURG
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WILDLAND WEEDS 13
More than one hundred people, representing twenty-eightstates, registered and participated in several interactive sessionsof NIWAW IV during the week of February 24-28, 2003 inWashington, DC. Representation covered Southeastern states,Midwestern states and most of the states west of the MississippiRiver, as well as the Washington DC area, and included local,state, and federal government, academic, NGO’s, industry per-sonnel, private and public landowners and land managers.
The opening session offered a breadth of topics rangingfrom weed-free hay standards, electronic mapping techniques,status of some specific projects, Capitol Hill etiquette, and anupdate on the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) andthe Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) highlightingprogress on the crosscut budget (an analysis of the portion offederal agency budgets devoted to invasive species issues).Nineteen exhibits from a variety of agencies and organizationswere displayed during the week at the U.S. Botanic Gardens.Many high-level managers from NISC departments and agen-cies attended the excellent reception at the Smithsonian Castle.
Something new this year was the presentation of awards tosignificant contributors who have increased the awareness ofinvasive plants. The award recipients were: Al Cofrancesco(individual); Fort Hunter Liggett, CA (for on-the-ground effortin controlling yellow starthistle); the National Wildlife RefugeAssociation (for public outreach and education); and the NorthCarolina Botanical Gardens. In addition, Randy Westbrooksreceived a joint IWAC - FICMNEW award for outstanding per-sonal achievement.
The Briefing sessions at USDA featured twoUndersecretaries, two deputy undersecretaries, and the admin-istrators of CSREES, ARS, APHIS, and NRCS. The Briefing ses-
sion at the Department of Interior featured one AssistantSecretary and the administrators of FWS, BLM, BOR, NPS,USGS, and BIA. The Federal Interagency Committee for theManagement of Noxious and Exotic Weeds (FICMNEW) meet-ing was highlighted by discussions of the proposed early detec-tion and rapid response (EDRR) network, invasive plant man-agement positions, and an update on Japanese stiltgrass.Feedback from the administrators indicated they wereimpressed by the large turnout during the meetings, showingthe interest of stakeholders in the invasive weed issue.
Perhaps most importantly, participants from the several stateshad numerous visits with their senators and members of theHouse of Representatives. The majority of the Hill visits were tokey members of both political parties on agriculture, resources,and environment committees.
The success of NIWAW was due to the planning by theWeed Science Society of America, Dow Chemical Company,Monsanto Company, BASF Corporation, and all the federalagency partners mentioned above. The large attendance wasdue to strong support from the Intermountain Noxious WeedAdvisory Council (INWAC), Western Weed CoordinatingCommittee (WWCC), North American Weed ManagementAssociation (NAWMA) and the South Florida WaterManagement District. Representatives had more than 17 meet-ings with various NGO’s and agencies to present and discusstheir positions on several critical issues and concerns.
NIWAW-IV was highly successful and most comments bythe participants were positive and favorable, with constructivecritiques to improve future NIWAW events.
For more information contact Nelroy Jackson via e-mail at [email protected]
National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week IVorganized by the Invasive Weed Awareness Coalition (IWAC) in Washington DC by Nelroy Jackson
JOIN THE FLORIDA EXOTIC PEST PLANT COUNCIL!Annual Membership Dues include:
Quarterly magazine, Wildland Weeds • Quarterly newsletterLegislative updates regarding exotic pest plant control issues
MEMBERSHIPWildland Weeds subscription only -$15/year (does not include other membershipbenefits)
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14 SUMMER 2003
IntroductionAir potato (Dioscorea bulbifera L.) is
an herbaceous vine native to Asia. It wasfirst introduced into Florida in 1905 andcan now be found throughout much ofthe state (Langeland and Burks 1998). D.bulbifera is listed as a Category I plant bythe Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council(www.FLEPPC.org/01list.htm) meaningthat this plant is capable of altering nativeplant communities by displacing nativespecies. In 1999, air potato was added tothe Florida Noxious Weed List (FDACS,F.A.C. Chapter 5B-57).
D. bulbifera produces aerial tubers orbulbils which drop to the ground to pro-duce new plants. These structures enablethe plant to spread rapidly and engulfnative vegetation (Langeland and Burks1998). Management of this vine is chal-lenging, largely because of the plant’s abil-ity to grow from bulbils. Repeated herbi-cide application and mechanical methods(i.e., hand-pulling) are the most commoncontrol methods (Gordon et al. 1996).
The purpose of this research was toevaluate the effectiveness of two herbi-cides on pruned air potato vines. Apotential large-scale management tech-nique would be to cut and remove vines,and then treat the remaining stems withherbicides. Removing vines is labor-intensive, and would ideally occur beforebulbil formation. However, if air potatovines were removed after bulbil forma-
tion, leaving bul-bils on theground, herbicidetreatment couldreduce the num-ber of plants thefollowing season.Our goals were to
determine the most effective herbicideand method of application to controlregrowth from bulbils.
MethodsThis study was performed in Lake
Buena Vista, Orange County, Florida. On26 March 2001, we planted forty D. bulb-ifera bulbils in 3.8 L pots containing#121 potting soil. Plants were grownoutside, under ambient conditions, andwatered daily. On 15 June 2001, after 81days of growth, the plants had grown anaverage of 200 cm. We then pruned themto 5 cm, with no leaves. The remainingstems were randomly assigned to one offour treatments, each containing 10replicates. The four treatments consistedof: a control, Garlon3A® spray (GS),Garlon3A® paint (GP), Roundup® spray(RS), and Roundup® paint (RP).Herbicides were applied at typical labelrates: Garlon 3A® (44.4% A.I.) is a tri-clopyr herbicide and was applied at 6oz/gal (4.7% solution). Roundup® (41%A.I) is a glyphosate herbicide and was
applied at a concentration of 3 oz/gal(2.3% solution). The plants were treatedwith herbicides immediately after cut-ting. The spray treatments were appliedwith a backpack sprayer to wet thestems, and attempts were made to mini-mize runoff. Because the pruned stemsdid not have any leaves, we also appliedeach herbicide with a hand brush toinsure that coverage was complete.While this is not a practical method toapply herbicides on a large-scale, we feltthis would insure that the herbicide wasapplied evenly over the pruned stems.After cutting and herbicide treatment,the plants were watered on a daily basis.We measured the length of new growthfrom the bulbils (including regrowthfrom the pruned stem, as well as newstems from each bulbil) at 7, 14, 21, 35,49, 66, 81, 94, and 108 days after treat-ment (DAT).
CONTROL OF REGROWTH FROM
AIR POTATO (Dioscorea bulbifera L.) BULBILS
1WDI R&D, P.O. Box 10,321, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830; 2Disney’s Pest Management, 2200 S. Service Lane, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830;3Azurea, Inc, P.O. Box 22194, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
by Craig Duxbury1, Scott Glasscock2, Iwona Staniszewska3
WILDLAND WEEDS 15
ResultsWe found that growth rates from
untreated cut stems were similar to thepre-cut growth rates. For example, beforepruning, the plants grew an average of2.5cm/d. After pruning, the controlplants grew an average of 2.3 cm/d. Incontrast, the growth rates of bulbils treat-ed with herbicides were suppressed (Fig.1). However, the herbicides appeared todiffer in their effectiveness. We foundthat Garlon® was more effective thanRoundup®, achieving 100% control withboth spray and paint application meth-ods. We measured a 100% and 73%reduction in growth rates for Garlon®
Paint and Roundup® Paint, respectively,compared to control plants. We alsofound that Roundup® Spray treatmentwas less effective than Roundup® Painttreatment; causing a 34% reduction ingrowth rate, compared to a 73% growthrate reduction.
Discussion and Conclusions We found that regrowth from pruned
air potato bulbils is rapid, averaging 2.3cm/d. We also found that herbicides wereeffective in controlling regrowth.However, there were differences in theefficacy of the two herbicides tested, as well as in the method of application.Garlon® was more effective thanRoundup®, completely inhibiting regrowthfrom pruned bulbils in both the sprayand paint treatments. Spray and paintapplication of Roundup® reduced plantgrowth by 34% and 73%, as compared tocontrols, respectively. Thus, it alsoappears that painting of the herbicideresulted in better coverage, and subse-quent control of plant growth.
These results are similar to previousresearch conducted on air potato. Forexample, Mullahey and Brown (1996)compared the efficacy of six herbicidesapplied to vines approximately 10 m inheight. They found that Roundup®,Remedy®, and Garlon® provided highergrowth suppression at 91 DAT thanFinale®, Weedmaster®, and Banvel®.Another group of investigators (Gordonet al. 1996) compared a one-time treat-ment of hand pulling of air potatoes withRoundup® and hand pulling. They thenassessed growth and survival for three
years. Although this effort was confound-ed by disturbance from a hurricane, theresults suggested that hand pulling waseffective without herbicide treatment.However, the results were inconclusive asto whether repeated herbicide applica-tion would have controlled regrowthfrom tubers.
Thus, our data suggest that thegrowth of air potato can be controlled bymechanical cutting, followed by applica-tion of Garlon® to the cut stems.Removing cut stems could potentiallyreduce the amount of climbing structureavailable for new growth and, if removedduring or after aerial tuber formation, thenumber of these structures that poten-tially could grow in the following season.
Further study at a larger temporal andspatial scale is warranted to determinethe most efficient method for controllingthe long-term growth of air potato.
Great Air Potato RoundupThe City of Gainesville Nature Operations Division held the fourth annual Great Air Potato Roundup in February. Almost 900 volunteers collected over 12 tons of tubers from the air potato vine in Gainesville public areas. Studentsfrom Brentwood School joined in the effort to reduce the invasive vine in theirschoolyard. – K. Brown
Literature Cited
Gordon, D. R., G. D. Gann, E. Carter, and K. Thomas.Post-hurricane vegetation response in South Florida ham-mocks with and without Dioscorea bulbifera L. control.Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council, 11th Annual Meeting,1996. Published in Florida’s Garden of Good & Evil,Proc.1998 Joint Symp. Florida Exotic Pest Plant Counciland Fl. Native Plant Soc. D.T. Jones and B.W. Gamble,eds., pp. 309-326. 1999.
Langeland, K. A. and K. C. Burks. Identification and biol-ogy of non-native plants in Florida’s natural areas.Langeland, K. A. and Burks, K. C., eds. University ofFlorida, Gainesville, FL. 1998. 165 pp.
Mullahey, J. J. and S. H. Brown. Weakening the grip of airpotato. Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council, 11th AnnualMeeting, 1996. Published in Florida’s Garden of Good &Evil, Proc.1998 Joint Symp. Florida Exotic Pest PlantCouncil And Florida Native Plant Soc. D.T. Jones andB.W. Gamble, eds., pp. 285-290. 1999.
16 SUMMER 2003
Quarterly General Meetings with CEU’s
Annual Memberships $25 - General • $5 - StudentIncludes the quarterly newsletter Hydrophyte
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WILDLAND WEEDS 17
The Florida Exotic Pest PlantCouncil made a return visit to theTampa Bay Wholesale Growers’ SpringExpo this year with an educational dis-play. The Expo, called The SpringHorticulture Trade Show of the Southeast,was held on Friday and Saturday,February 21 and 22 at the Florida StateFairgrounds in Tampa. 3,263 people,including wholesale plant growers anddistributors, landscape professionals,consultants, and members of the generalpublic, attended the Expo.
Complimentary booth space hasbeen provided to FLEPPC for education-al purposes by the Tampa Bay WholesaleGrowers at both the 2002 and 2003events, creating an important education-al opportunity. The booth was capablystaffed by FLEPPC members KathyBurks, Brian Nelson, Katy Roberts, and
Bruce Turley, who devoted personal timeto making our participation at the eventa success.
This is an especially important venuefor the FLEPPC message about invasive,non-native plants because of the opportu-nity to educate and interact with mem-bers of the ornamental/horticultural plantindustry. Many visitors came to the boothunaware of the problems caused by non-native plant invaders. They left informedand, in some cases, motivated to learnmore. In the words of Katy Roberts “Ithink that this show was a grand successin addressing the problem of educationon what, where, and how to deal withinvasive exotic pest plants.” A huge ‘thankyou’ to Kathy, Brian, Katy, and Bruce, andto Hugh Gramling of the TBWG for facil-itating FLEPPC’s participation in theExpo.
FLEPPC Springs up at the TBWG’s Spring Expo Trade Showby Andrea Van Loan
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18 SUMMER 2003
Introduction
Accidentally and intentionally intro-duced into the United States in the early1900’s, cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica)has since become a serious weed problemin pastures, forests, reclaimed mine sites,and natural areas in the southeasternUnited States. It is currently documentedin 44 of the 82 counties in Mississippi andhas become a serious problem for landmanagers in the southern part of the state.As it continues to spread, land managersin other parts of the state will have to jointhe struggle to address cogongrass and itsimpacts. In order to disseminate informa-tion about this weed, MS-EPPC held asymposium on cogongrass at theMississippi Museum of Science in Jackson,MS on December 10, 2002. Speakers pre-sented information on research and otherefforts to address the cogongrass problem.
Benny Graves Mississippi Bureau of Plant Industry
The first speaker, Benny Graves fromthe Mississippi Bureau of Plant Industry,discussed the formation of a task force tocoordinate state and federal agency effortsto address the problem of cogongrass.Lester Spell, Commissioner of theMississippi Department of Agriculture,initiated the task force at the behest of sev-eral landowners. The task force is com-prised of participants from state and feder-al agencies as well as landowners andmembers of industry. They have identifiedthree broad areas of concern. First, agencypersonnel and the general public need tobe educated about the impacts and controlof cogongrass. Second, techniques to con-trol and suppress cogongrass need to bedeveloped or improved. Finally, land man-agers need to start using the tools that areavailable to control cogongrass.
In order to assist with efforts to con-trol cogongrass, the task force has creat-ed a poster, brochures and a web pagewith information about identification,biology and control of cogongrass(See:www.mdac.state.ms.us/Library/BBC/PlantIndustry/PlantPestPrograms/
Cogongrass.html). They have initiated asurvey to identify locations of cogongrasswithin the state and made efforts to iden-tify sources of funding for education,research, and control of cogongrass. Theyalso hope to promote a noxious weedamendment to the Mississippi Plant Actthat would provide the Bureau of PlantIndustry with regulatory power to addressnoxious weeds in Mississippi. Plants sug-gested for listing include cogongrass,Chinese tallow tree, Florida betony,Japanese climbing fern, purple loosestrife,torpedograss, giant salvinia, hydrilla, anditchgrass. For more information aboutthis proposed noxious weed amendment,contact Butch Alpe, Bureau of PlantIndustry, (662) 325-8488.
Randy BrowningUS Fish and Wildlife Service
The second speaker, Randy Browning,Private Lands Biologist with the US Fishand Wildlife Service, discussed the prob-lems that cogongrass represents for therestoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem.Cogongrass displaces native species andreduces artificial and natural regenerationof pines. It may be allelopathic and is poorforage. It creates very high temperatureswhen burned, resulting in high tree mor-tality. It has had a negative impact onnumerous wildlife species such as quail,songbirds, insects, and gopher tortoises.
Mr. Browning stressed the need toclean equipment to prevent the spread ofcogongrass and also the need for restric-tions on its sale as an ornamental by thenursery industry. The ornamental cultivar(Japanese bloodgrass, Rubra, Red Baron)generally reverts back to its native formonce planted. Strategies for cogongrasscontrol include burning or mowing in latewinter or early spring to remove thatch,repetitive deep disking (if appropriate),and application of herbicides (glyphosateor imazapyr). Treatment will take manyyears.
He has developed a PowerPoint pres-entation to be used to educate landown-ers and land managers on the biology,
dispersal, impacts, and control ofcogongrass (available at the web addresslisted previously).
Jim MillerUSDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Dr. Jim Miller of the USDA ForestService, Southern Research Station inAlabama discussed the region-wide moni-toring of invasive pest plants in southernforests by the Forest Service and state part-ners. However, Mississippi is not participat-ing in their survey. Thirty-two taxa of inva-sives, including cogongrass, are being monitored for the region. Dr. Miller andothers have developed a publication avail-able at www.srs.fs.usda.gov/fia/manual/ orwww.bugwood.org/ that provides informa-tion on the identification and control ofnon-native invasive plants of southernforests.
Dr. Miller summarized results of her-bicide application trials on cogongrass inloblolly and longleaf forests. Results werebest for imazapyr at 25 gal/ac andglyphosate at 10 gal/ac. Late fall was thebest time of application and Arsenal(imazapyr) was generally more effectivefor older patches.
Wilson FairclothAuburn University, Auburn, Alabama
Wilson Faircloth, a PhD Student atAuburn University, discussed his researchon the control and management ofcogongrass. He is looking into glyphosateand imazapyr herbicide treatments combined with planting bahiagrass(Paspalum notatum), bermudagrass(Cynodon dactylon), crimson clover(Trifolium incarnatum) and gulf ryegrass(Lolium multiflorum) as potential methodsof control. His initial findings suggest thatimazapyr’s effectiveness is site dependentand that crimson clover provided goodsuppression of cogongrass in the spring.He has evaluated the frequency of mowingand the use of a Burch wetblade (a lawn-mower capable of applying herbicide as itcuts) to control cogongrass. Neither mow-ing nor the wetblade provided good con-
MS-EPPC Cogongrass Symposiumby Lisa Yager, MS-EPPC Secretary
M E E T I N G R E S U LT S
WILDLAND WEEDS 19
trol. He is currently evaluating mechanicaland chemical treatments that might beeffective in facilitating establishment ofloblolly pine into cogongrass. He hasdetermined that higher application rates ofimazapyr and glyphosate increased mor-tality of pines and did not achieve greatercontrol of cogongrass. The mechanicaland chemical treatments might buy thepines a little time; but that was all.
John ByrdMississippi State Extension Service, Starkville,Mississippi
Dr. John Byrd of the Mississippi StateExtension Service started his presentationby stating that although invasives repre-sent a big threat economically and ecolog-ically, there is low media reporting. Dr.Byrd discussed how cogongrass is dis-persed throughout Mississippi in contam-inated soil, ornamentals, hay, and sod.Disturbing the soil in and around thecogongrass patches and failure to cleanearth moving equipment has transportedrhizomes to uninfested areas.
Cogongrass primarily blooms in thespring, but also may bloom in Novemberand December. Dr. Byrd discussed the pos-sibility that seed dispersal has been dis-counted more than it should be. He hasdocumented high germination rates forseeds from the coast. The seeds are winddispersed and he has seen them blowingaround from traffic and traveling on vehi-cles. Mowing during seed production mayhave facilitated its spread as well.
Dr. Byrd then discussed some ongoingand potential research projects. LikeWilson Faircloth, he has looked at using awetblade to control cogongrass but resultswere poor even at different mowingheights. He has obtained some control at
very high rates of mowing, but felt thatsuch rates would not be practical for mostsituations. He looked at combining soilnutrient addition with mowing but simplygot very green cogongrass. Biocontrolagents, techniques from the turfgrassindustry for seed head suppression, anduse of Roundup-ready corn and soybeansshould be researched to see if they provideimproved techniques for control and sup-pression of cogongrass.
Steve BrewerUniversity of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi
The final speaker, Dr. Steve Brewer atthe University of Mississippi, described hisresearch examining effects of nutrientaddition on invasibility of a longleaf pinesavanna by cogongrass. Cogongrass mayinvade because a niche is available orbecause it is a superior competitor to thenative vegetation. In this study, Dr. Brewerlooked at additions of nitrogen and phos-phorus on cogongrass encroachment intoplots over two growing seasons. Neithernutrient treatment halted cogongrassspread, but phosphorus appeared toreduce the rate of spread. Nitrogen had noeffect on cogongrass spread and reducednative plant richness and height.Phosphorus increased heights of nativelegumes and other plants. Legumes maymore directly compete for phosphorus,thus slowing growth of cogongrass.
Dr. Brewer also looked at seed bankswithin cogongrass and the pine savannaand found much reduced seed bank diver-sity within the cogongrass patch. This maymean that for restoration to occur, nativespecies will have to be seeded in. He plansto undertake research examining theeffects of individual legume species oncogongrass spread.
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Additional Information
To obtain copies of brochures and posters providing information on cogongrass iden-tification, biology and ecology, go to the Mississippi Bureau of Plant Industry website,www.mdac.state.ms.us/Library/BBC/PlantIndustry/PlantPestPrograms/Cogongrass.htmlor contact them at (662) 325-7765, P.O. Box 5207, Mississippi State, MS 39762. See thefollowing Mississippi websites for additional information.
www.se-eppc.org/states/Mississippi.cfmwww.wildlifemiss.org/magazine/fall02/species.htmlwww.ms.nrcs.usda.gov/dsbiology.pdfwww.mdwfp.com/wildlifeissues/articles.asp?vol=8&article=110www.msucares.com/pubs/misc/m1194.html
20 SUMMER 2003
Mark Your Calendar• Invasive Plants Conference, August 6-7, 2003, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Contact: The Morris Arboretum,100 Northwestern Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118, 215-247-5777x159, [email protected]; www.upenn.edu/paflora.
• The 30th Natural Areas Conference, Defining a Natural AreasLand Ethic, September 24-27, 2003, Madison, WI. Co-hostedby the Natural Areas Association and the WisconsinDepartment of Natural Resources’ Endangered ResourcesProgram. The last day of the conference, September 27th, willfeature a one-day symposium on Invasive Plants in the UpperMidwest (see next listing). Contact: www.naturalarea.org
• The 2003 Symposium on Invasive Plants in the Upper Midwest,part of the 30th Natural Areas Conference (see above listing),September 27, 2003, Madison, WI. Participants may registerfor the entire Natural Areas Conference, or just the one-daysymposium sponsored by the Invasive Plants Association ofWisconsin. Contact: [email protected] -or-www.ipaw.org
• The 30th Annual Conference on Ecosystems Restoration andCreation, October 30-31, 2003, Tampa, Florida. Call for Papersends June 30th, 2003. Contact: [email protected] -or- [email protected]; www.hccfl.edu/depts/detp/eco-conf.html
• Invasive Plants in Natural and Managed Systems: LinkingScience and Management, November 3-7, 2003, FortLauderdale, FL. A joint conference and workshop, co-hostedby the Ecological Society of America and the Weed ScienceSociety of America in conjunction with the 7th InternationalConference on Ecology and Management of Alien PlantInvasions. Contact: http://www.esa.org/ipinams-emapi7/
Publications:• Weed Ecology in Natural and Agricultural Systems, by
B.D.Booth, University of Guelph, Canada, S.D. Murphy,University of Waterloo, Canada and C.J. Swanton, University of Guelph, Canada. CABI Publishing. 2003. 288 pp. Paperback. £35.00 US$60.00 1-800-528-4841 www.cabi-publishing.org/Bookshop/index.asp This new textbook links ecological theory to our understand-ing of natural and agricultural weeds, providing a bridgebetween basic and applied ecology; it provides examples ofnatural, managed and agricultural weeds from around theworld; and it includes examples from weed and invasivespecies literature to illustrate ecological principles discussed.
• Biological Invasions - Economic and Environmental Costs ofAlien Plant, Animal and Microbe Species, edited by D. Pimentel,Cornell University. 2002. 369 pp. CRC Press, Atlanta, GA.$129.95 1-800-272-7737. www.crcpress.com “…assembles detailed information on components of the inva-sive species problem from six continents.”
• Invasive Exotic Species in the Sonoran Region, edited by B. Tellman, University of Arizona, University of Arizona Press.2002. 460 pp. Clothbound. $75.00. www.uapress.arizona.edu“…the first comprehensive attempt to address problems posedby expanding populations of exotic plant and animal speciesin the Sonoran Desert and adjacent grasslands and riparianareas.” Contains the first compiled list of more than 500 natu-ralized exotic species in the Sonoran region.
• New volumes of Flora of North America include: Volume 23,Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Cyperaceae, treating843 species in 27 genera, including Carex, Cyperus,Eleocharis, and Rhynchospora; Volume 25, Magnoliophyta:Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, Part 2, treating 733 speciesof genera including Muhlenbergia, Paspalum, Panicum, andDichanthelium; and Volume 26, Magnoliophyta: Liliidae:Liliales and Orchidales, treating 908 species in 177 generaincluding Pontederia, Agave, Dioscorea, and Iris. All volumes may be ordered from Oxford University Press at 1-800-451-7556 or www.oup-usa.org
• The Florida Bureau of Invasive Plant Management (BIPM) isproviding online its BIPM Fiscal Year 2001-2002 AnnualReport. This 232-page full color report contains informationon aquatic and upland invasive exotic plant control opera-tions, biocontrol research, program costs and funding, andmore. Look for the links under “What’s New” atwww.dep.state.fl.us/lands/invaspec/index.htm This is a large(18 Mb) PDF document; a CD version is available uponrequest. Contact: [email protected]
• The Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council (SE-EPPC) recentlyadded ten new plants to the 1997 Tennessee Exotic PlantManagement Manual. The newly updated manual providesIntegrated Pest Management (IPM) plans for a total of thirtyspecies and includes a line drawing for each. Funds were notavailable for printing copies of the updated manual, however,the text and drawings can be easily downloaded or convertedto CD format from the SE-EPPC website: www.se-eppc.org
• Deeprooted Sedge: An Overlooked Aggressive Weed in theSoutheastern United States is a full color 11” x 14” fact sheetabout Cyperus entrerianus, a sedge that has become a seriouspest in the coastal plain of the southeastern U.S. The factsheet contains a distribution map, color photos, identificationand growth characteristics and other information. Contact: Charles Bryson, [email protected]
• The Wild Orchids of North America, North of Mexico, by PaulMartin Brown, drawings by Stan Folson. 2003. 256 pp. University Press of Florida. Cloth, $49.95/Flexibind, $27.95. 1-800-226-3822 or www.upf.comThis annotated guide covers 223 species, 24 subspecies andvarieties, and 24 hybrids. Color photographs and line draw-ings. “[The] best one-volume field guide available for orchidenthusiasts and wildflower lovers…”
Internodes
WILDLAND WEEDS 21
andel Poppell was an invasive plant control con-tractor who owned and operated Randel’s Landclearingwith his wife Rebecca, and two sons, Laramie and Wyatt.Randel was a master equipment operator and a very con-scientious herbicide applicator. The company startedworking with the Florida Department of EnvironmentalProtection five years ago with modest exotic pest plantcontrol experience. The company quickly became one ofour best contractors. This can be attributed to Randel'sacceptance of nothing short of perfection from his crews,and a strong desire to always learn more about exotic pestplants, control methods, and the impacts exotic pestplants have on native species.
Randel always was a pleasure to be around. He usual-ly had a funny story or joke to relay that left people smil-ing or laughing. Randel died in a tragic accident whileremoving Australian pines from a beach conservation areain Saint Lucie County this past winter. He will be greatlymissed by his family and friends, and by the land man-agers and citizens who appreciate all the great work heaccomplished in restoring the natural Florida.
- M. Zeller
In Memory of
Randel F. Poppel
1956 - 2003
R
Dupont.................................................................................... p. 12Helena Chemical Co............................................................... p. 09SePRO Corp. .......................................................................... p. 02Syngenta Professional Products ............................................ p. 24UF-Center for Aquatic & Invasive Plants .............................. p. 23
Applied Biochemists .............................................................. p. 08BASF ...................................................................................... p. 10Dow AgroSciences .................................................................. p. 04Earth Balance.......................................................................... p. 16UAP Timberland .................................................................... p. 17
Allstate Resource Management .............................................. p. 16Aquatic Vegetation Control .................................................... p. 19Native Creations .................................................................... p. 11Pandion Systems .................................................................... p. 19
Association Florida Native Nurseries ........................................ p. 16South Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society (SFAPMS) .. p. 16
Web Sites:• Go to the University of Florida Herbarium Collections
Catalog and search the Digital Imaging Projects, PlantSpecies Introduced in Florida, to see high resolution,zoomable (up to 100%) images of approximately 40species from the FLEPPC Category II list. The resolutionis high enough to distinguish very fine details. The project was funded in part by the Florida DEP-Bureau ofInvasive Plant Management and made available throughcollaboration of the UF Herbarium with the George A.Smathers Libraries (UF) Digital Library Center and theFlorida Center for Library Automation. Full label data for all of the Category II species on file in the herbariumalso will be available soon in the computerized catalog.The Bureau chose Category II species over Category Ibecause they are less well known, thus creating a greaterneed for available images. Kent Perkins, CollectionsManager for the UF Herbarium, hopes to gain additionalfunds for more images. There are now approximately 500 images online at the web site in projects such asPotentially Poisonous Florida Plant Species, John Bartram’sBotany (St. Augustine to Picolata), and Floristic Inventoryof Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, all searchable by common or scientific name. www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herbarium/cat/digitalimagingprojects.htm
• The Fairchild Virtual Herbarium Web Portal prototypesimultaneously searches through the collections of tenherbaria for the Family/Genus/Species you choose. Herbariainclude the Missouri and New York Botanical Gardens,Fairchild Tropical Garden, the University of Florida, TexasA&M, and the British and Swedish Museums of NaturalHistory, as well as herbaria in the Cayman Islands and CostaRica. www.virtualherbarium.org/vhportal.html
• The Aquatic, Wetland and Invasive Plant InformationRetrieval System (APIRS) now is in a user-friendly format,thanks to major support from the Florida Dept ofEnvironmental Protection-Bureau of Invasive PlantManagement, and the US Army Corps of Engineers-AquaticPlant Control Research Program (Jacksonville District andVicksburg, MS). In addition to its 20-year history of col-lecting the worldwide literature on aquatic and wetlandplant species, APIRS has been collecting new and retrospec-tive literature on upland invasive species in Florida, as wellas more general literature on invasive species problemsworldwide, for the past couple of years. The annotated cita-tions to this literature can be easily found by searching thedatabase’s approximately 60,000 records.http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/search80/NetAns2/
Graduating Students:• Rachel Tenpenny Sartain, 2003, Master’s Thesis.
“Physiological Factors Affecting the Management ofTorpedograss,” Agronomy Department, University of Florida,Major Professors: David L. Sutton and Greg E. MacDonald.
Thank you to the following sponsors for supporting this issue of WILDLAND WEEDS:
22 SUMMER 2003
“Excuse me…” The voice waspleasant enough on the surface, but itcarried just a hint of a condescendingundertone, and perhaps even a whiff ofsuperiority. This happened sometimeswhen they worked in publicly ownednatural areas adjacent to privatehomes, where the residents consideredthe woods next door to be theirs.
“May I ask what you are doing?”The voice that hailed them emanatedfrom a middle-aged woman in a cardigansweater with a pair of bifocals balancedon the end of her nose who was standingon the other side of a low fence borderinga back yard, just a few feet away. Ohyeah, this was going to be a good one. Hetook the lead. “Good afternoon, ma’am,we’re carrying out some land manage-ment activities on this property…” As hewent on to explain their mission, shewatched the woman’s gaze shift to thesloshing contents of the backpack sprayerhe wore, and saw the woman’s counte-nance change from party-polite engage-ment to concern. She began her count-down: Thirty, twenty-nine...
“Oh,” the woman responded, whenhe had finished describing the nature oftheir business, “and what is in that con-traption?” “Herbicide, ma’am,” heanswered matter-of-factly. Fifteen, four-teen…“We’re applying herbicide to inva-sive exotic plants that have becomeestablished in this natural area.” Thewoman responded in a completelyrational manner. “Oh, so you’re poison-ing our woods?” He continued, unfazed.“Well, actually ma’am, that’s more than abit of an overstatement. We are carefullyapplying appropriate chemicals to select-ed plants in-”. The bifocaled inquirerinterrupted. (Four, three...) “Oh, youmean like…(two, one) Agent Orange?”Blast Off! She simply had to figure out away to cash in on this uncanny predic-tive talent, but there was no monetarygain in sight here - pure self-satisfactionwould have to suffice. Meanwhile, theyhad some ‘splainin’ to do. This wouldn’tbe the first time, and they both knew the
drill. The woman was proceeding to ActTwo, Scene One, in which the adjacentproperty owner suggests alternatives…“Well, that concerns me. If you are real-ly an ecologist, why do you choose tospread toxins in our nature lands? Whydon’t you and your helper just cut these…invasive…exotic…” (she could practi-cally see the thesaurus pages flipping inMrs. Cardigan’s head, but that was good)“plants down?”
She stepped in, right on cue, mak-ing a conscious effort to keep her eyesfrom rolling, keeping that Elvis lip incheck, refraining from guttural groaning,she (hey, how come they always assumeI’m the helper?) replied “I am so glad youasked that question.” The woman staredat her as if she had just popped up outof the ground. She smiled a big howdee-doo grin, and continued. “Simply cut-ting these plants down wouldn’t killthem. As a matter of fact, it just kind ofticks them off. They’d regrow from theremaining roots. We really need to killthem completely to prevent regrowth.For these particular plants” (she over-pronounced “particular” - what a greatword) “we can apply herbicide to thestump after we cut them, or …” (sheinserted a dramatic pause) “we can,carefully, apply herbicide to the base ofthe trunk without cutting anything,or…” (she raised her eyebrows, andnodded her head ever so slightly) “wecan even apply herbicide to the leaves,and the plant will absorb it and die inplace.” She watched the woman’s men-tal wheels turn, envisioning a view fromher poolside lanai of dead stuff. Sherecommenced her countdown as thewoman ruminated and retorted . . .Eight, seven, six …
“Hmm. Well, if the roots are theproblem, couldn’t you just (…two,one…) dig them up?” (Oh, get Jimmythe Greek on the phone right now! Shewas red hot.) “You know, get rid of theroots?” She initiated the baton hand-off,and he received it flawlessly. “Greatthought - but digging up the roots dis-
turbs the soil and creates a place whereother invasive exotic plants could germi-nate and grow - sort of a vicious cycle.We couldn’t be sure we got all the roots,and it’s also very labor intensive,although,” he added quickly, “some landmanagement programs are using prisonlabor now. We can apply herbicide to 20trees, without soil disturbance, in thetime it would take me and my helper”(brave man, very funny man) “to dig oneup.” He stopped talking, letting thewoman chew on the prison labor sce-nario for a moment before her anticipat-ed (ten, nine…) reply. “Well, labor inten-sive or not (she hadn’t really heard thesoil part), isn’t it better to keep toxinsout of our environment? Why, just thinkabout (two, one…) DDT.” (Shazam!) Shelateraled the ball his way.
“Ma’am, the herbicides we use noware a new generation of products. Eachand every one has been through compre-hensive private and governmentalscreening and testing to assure that, withproper handling and careful application,they are not harmful to anything exceptthe intended plants.” He could see thatMrs. Cardigan was still on “comprehen-sive,” so he cut to the chase. “They’resafe - we wouldn’t work with themalmost every day if they weren’t. Wecould give you some phone numbers, orthe names of some web sites where youcan learn more if you’re interested.”
She began her next countdown,anticipating a final zinger within 20 sec-onds, and he waited for a reply, but Mrs.Cardigan was silent. Oh well. At leastnow she knew she was not a total psy-chic freak. No lottery tickets today.
He wrapped it up. “Ma’am, we needto get back to work.” Mrs. Cardigannodded, her brain reeling, and evensmiled a little. She signed off as theymoved on, “Have a nice day, ma’am.”There was work to be done.
- J.A.
An excerpt from “The Adventures of HackGarlon and his buxom sidekick Squirt.”
notes from the disturbed edge - chapter 8
R E S E A R C H x P R O D U C T S x P E O P L E x S T E W A R D S H I P
Old men rarely reminisce about
a day on the weeds.
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