[APWG] microstegium management
ialm at erols.com
ialm at erols.com
Sun Feb 15 03:38:22 CST 2009
We found at Swann Park in Charles county, Maryland, that native plants
fully returned after 5 years to small (~0.1 acre) post-emergent treated
monocultural patches. Two years was not enough. We hand weeded where
Microstegium was mixed with natives.
Marc Imlay. Ph. D
Conservation Biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society
(301-699-6204, 301-283-0808, 301-442-5657 cell)
Vice president of the Maryland Native Plant Society
Hui o Laka at Kokee State Park, Hawaii
Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council,
Chair of the Biodiversity and Habitat Stewardship Committee
for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Original Message:
-----------------
From: S. Luke Flory sflory at indiana.edu
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:53:29 -0500
To: ForestRuss at aol.com, APWG at lists.plantconservation.org,
MIPN at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [APWG] microstegium management
Thanks for the link Russ.
Coincidentally, we just had some more research published on the response
of native communities to removal of Microstegium. The paper is titled,
"Invasive plant removal method determines native plant community
responses" and can now be accessed in the Online Early section at the
Journal of Applied Ecology. I have pasted the abstract below and you can
contact me for the PDF if you don't have full text access to JAE.
This is a follow-up to my recent publication in Restoration Ecology on
managing invasions. I do agree though - our research certainly isn't
keeping up with the spread of invasions.
Luke
Invasive plant removal method determines native plant community responses
S. Luke Flory and Keith Clay
Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East 3rd Street,
Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Summary
1.Restoration of habitats invaded by non-native plants should include
both the removal of invasive
plants and re-establishment of native plant communities. To develop
appropriate restoration
strategies and quantify the effects of invasions, experiments that
evaluate multiple removal methods
and native community responses to those removal methods are needed.
2.We evaluated the response of native plant communities to removal of
the invasive grass
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stiltgrass) in eastern forests in the
USA. At eight field sites in
southern Indiana, we applied three common removal treatments and
compared native community
responses among treatments and to untreated reference plots.
3.After 2 years of treatment, native community responses to Microstegium
removal varied significantly
among methods and plant functional groups in autumn 2006. Graminoid
richness was greater
when the invader was removed with hand-weeding, while graminoid biomass
was lower in plots
treated with post-emergent herbicide compared to reference plots. Forb
richness was greater with
hand-weeding and post-emergent herbicide compared to plots treated with
post-emergent plus
pre-emergent herbicides or untreated plots. Forb biomass was greater
across all removal treatments.
Overall native community diversity was 24% greater when the invasion was
removed with handweeding
and 21% greater with post-emergent herbicide compared to reference
plots. No positive
response in plant diversity occurred with post-emergent plus
pre-emergent herbicide.
4. By spring 2007, graminoid percentage cover was greater with
hand-weeding but not with
herbicide treatments compared to untreated plots. However, forb cover
was greater across all
removal treatments compared to plots where the invader was not removed.
The density of native
tree seedlings was 123% greater in post-emergent herbicide treated plots
than in untreated plots,
indicating that the invasion was inhibiting tree recruitment.
5. Synthesis and applications. Our results demonstrate that multiple
techniques can be used to
control invasive plants but that the responses of native plant
communities vary among removal
methods. Further, greater native plant diversity and biomass following
removal shows that
invasions were suppressing native plant communities. Management of plant
invasions should
consider not only the effectiveness of removal methods but also how
different methods influence
native plant responses.
Key-words: diversity, evenness, grass-specific post-emergent herbicide,
hand-weeding, Japanese
stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum, non-native grass, pre-emergent
herbicide, richness
ForestRuss at aol.com wrote:
> Dear All:
>
> During the past several years I have spent a nearly obscene amount of
> time trying to figure out how to control the spread of Japanese
> stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum, in my extremely fertile central
> West Virginia woodland that is near the epicenter of a major invasion
> by the weed.
>
> It appears that the spread of Microstegium is far outpacing the
> research that is investigating the environmental impacts and
> consequences of a stiltgrass invasion.
>
> With that in mind. I recently prepared an article for the Woodland
> Owners Association of West Virginia newsletter listing insights I have
> developed and suggestions for containing the spread of stiltgrass.
>
> I hope that the information on the following link is of some use to
> APWG or PCA list members.
>
>
>
http://www.forestguild.org/ecological_forestry/Stiltgrass_and_woodsroad_main
tenance.pdf
>
> Russ Richardson
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Nothing says I love you like flowers! *Find a florist near you now
>
<http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=florist&ncid=emlcntusyelp00000002>*
.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
> APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
>
http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconserva
tion.org
>
> Disclaimer
> Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the
opinion of the individual posting the message.
_______________________________________________
PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconserva
tion.org
Disclaimer
Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the
opinion of the individual posting the message.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider -
http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange
More information about the APWG
mailing list