[APWG] FW: Mile-A-Minute, Polygonum perfoliatum
Marc Imlay
ialm at erols.com
Tue Jul 17 08:25:23 CDT 2007
_____
From: Hough-Goldstein, Judith [mailto:jhough at udel.edu]
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 9:10 AM
To: ialm at erols.com
Cc: ma-eppc at yahoogroups.com; rreardon at fs.fed.us; elake at udel.edu
Subject: Mle-a-minute biological control
Mark,
With respect to your comment "Bio-control is having mixed success according
to reports", I just want to remind everyone that this is only the third year
the mile-a-minute weevils from China have been in the field, and in fact the
majority of the releases so far were done in 2006, with a few in 2005 and
very few in 2004. Most consisted of relatively few insects. It is normal for
it to take some time before anything definitive can be said about the
effectiveness of an agent - at least 3 years, and sometimes up to 10 years.
The insects take time to build up in numbers, and in some cases they also
need time to adapt to regional conditions. So far we know that the weevils
can establish in a variety of habitats, produce multiple generations during
the season, and disperse readily to new patches. As to impact on the plant
populations, time will tell.
Judy Hough-Goldstein
_______________________________
Judy Hough-Goldstein, Professor
Dept. Entomology & Wildlife Ecology
531 South College Ave.
University of Delaware, Newark DE 19716-2160
http://ag.udel.edu/enwc/research/biocontrol/index.htm
_____
From: Marc Imlay [mailto:ialm at erols.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 9:34 PM
To: 'Aliens-L at indaba.iucn.org'
Subject: Mile-A-Minute, Polygonum perfoliatum
Three of us used garden rakes followed by hand pulling in Little Paint
Branch Park, Beltsville MD on June 22, 2007 and removed 20% of
the massive 25' by 100' patch of Mile-Minute in an open area
in 2 hours. For example, the three volunteers in 15 minutes used
the rakes very gently to remove about 80% of the Mile-a-Minute
in a 20' x 20' patch about 50% invasive vine cover over 50% native
cover including sensitive fern, asters, sycamore and sweet gum
seedlings and Virginia creeper. The herbaceous natives were not
damaged and it was then easy enough to hand pull the remainder in
30 minutes. When we tried to pull very hard at another spot, native
plants, including a virgin creeper, were damaged. Hand pulling alone
would have been seen as hopeless and herbicides would have
damaged the natives. Bio-control is having mixed success according
to reports. Cheers.
Marc Imlay
Laura Malick
Mike Breen
Marc Imlay, PhD
Conservation biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society
(301-699-6204, 301-283-0808 301-442-5657 cell)
Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council,
Hui o Laka at Kokee State Park, Hawaii
Vice president of the Maryland Native Plant Society,
Chair of the Biodiversity and Habitat Stewardship Committee
for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club
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