[APWG] [Aliens-L] Re: FW: host specific biological controls of Japanese Stiltgrass and other non-native invasive species.

Wed Feb 13 21:05:13 CST 2013

One solution that has ben proposed is for nurseries and other properties
that are growing non-native roses to facilitate removal of the multiflora
rose growing nearby by herbicide and mechanical means to protect their
non-native roses from the rose-rosette disease caried by the multiflora
rose.  

Marc Imlay, PhD,
Conservation biologist, Park Ranger Office
Non-native Invasive Plant Control coordinator. 
(301) 442-5657 cell  ialm at erols.com
Natural and Historical Resources Division
The  Maryland-National   Capital   Park  and Planning Commission
www.pgparks.com

  _____  

From: aliens-l-request at list.auckland.ac.nz
[mailto:aliens-l-request at list.auckland.ac.nz] On Behalf Of Marc Imlay
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 7:45 PM
To: aliens-l at list.auckland.ac.nz
Subject: RE: [Aliens-L] Re: [APWG] FW: host specific biological controls of
Japanese Stiltgrass and other non-native invasive species.

Good point. MDA studies showed rose-rosette disease does not harm the native
roses, Rosa setigera, Rosa palustris, or Rosa virginiana, but it does harm
non-native roses. Marc

  _____  

From: aliens-l-request at list.auckland.ac.nz
[mailto:aliens-l-request at list.auckland.ac.nz] On Behalf Of Boettner, Cynthia
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 2:44 PM
To: Marc Imlay
Cc: ficmnew at mail.afpmb.org; apwg at lists.plantconservation.org;
aliens-l at list.auckland.ac.nz; md-cons-invasives at lists.sierraclub.org; Jeff
Boettner; vandries at cns.umass.edu
Subject: [Aliens-L] Re: [APWG] FW: host specific biological controls of
Japanese Stiltgrass and other non-native invasive species.

Hello All,

To my thinking, this is an important initiative since host specific
biocontrol may be our only hope for controlling some invasive species
without harm to non-target species.  However, if we truly are serious about
the controls being host specific (and we should), then we should not be
using rose-rosette as a success story.  This agent impacts rose species
other than multiflora (see
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/homeowners/120517.html).  Please omit
this part from any letters of support you may send out.  I am not familiar
with the Tree of Heaven biocontrol.  Perhaps there is somebody within this
email list that is knowledgeable about and can suggest success stories of
biocontrol of invasive plants that are truly host specific. 

Best,
Cynthia

On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 6:35 AM, Marc Imlay <ialm at erols.com> wrote:

Here is an example of the need for research for biocontrols; Let's do the
same for our invasive Japanese Stiltgrass.: Cheatgrass "has fuelled almost
80% of the largest fires in the west over the last ten years. Researchers
are looking at a range of solutions including using a fungus to attack the
grass seed. " 

Marc Imlay, PhD,
Conservation biologist, Park Ranger Office
Non-native Invasive Plant Control coordinator. 
(301) 442-5657 cell  ialm at erols.com
Natural and Historical Resources Division
The  Maryland-National   Capital   Park  and Planning Commission
www.pgparks.com

  _____  

From: Marc Imlay [mailto:ialm at erols.com] 
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2013 10:32 PM
To: 'FriendsOfSligoCreek at yahoogroups.com'
Subject: host specific biological controls of Japanese Stiltgrass and other
non-native invasive species.

-----Original Message-----

From: Sierra Club Maryland Chapter,Alien Invasive [
<mailto:MD-CONS-INVASIVES at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG>
mailto:MD-CONS-INVASIVES at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG] On Behalf Of Alex Binck,
Stewardship Outings Intern, Marc Imlay

Sent: Monday, February 11, 2013 4:00 PM

To: MD-CONS-INVASIVES at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG

Subject: [MD-CONS-INVASIVES] Japanese Stiltgrass Send Out To State Senators
and Representatives

  _____  

Please send a request to your Senators and Representatives to restore and
expand research by the Federal goverment, including the US Department of
Agriculture, on host specific biological controls of Japanese Stiltgrass and
other non-native invasive species. The following sample letter, legislative
contact information and background information can be used to prepare your
request.   

Dear sir. The Maryland  Chapter of the Sierra Club requests restoration and
expansion of research by the Federal goverment, including the US Department
of Agriculture, on host specific biological controls of Japanese Stiltgrass
and other non-native invasive species. The field trip hikers of the Sierra
Club remember how bad it was this year on our outings events.  We request
that the Budget Control Acts of  2012 and 2013 not reduce the annual federal
funding of Federal R & D for biological Control research.
(www.aaas.org/spp/rd )  Please include research for Lyme Disease and Deer
Tick control.  

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN (Democrat), U.S. Senator from Maryland 

Capitol Hill:
509 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4524 <tel:%28202%29%20224-4524> ; fax: (202)
<tel:%28202%29%20224-1651> 224-1651
web: www.cardin.senate.gov <http://www.cardin.senate.gov/>  

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI (Democrat), U.S. Senator from Maryland 

Capitol Hill:
Hart Senate Office Building, Suite 503, Washington, DC 20510 - 2003
(202) 224-4654; fax: (202) 224-8858; tdd: (202) 224-5223
web: www.mikulski.senate.gov <http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/>  

ANDREW P. HARRIS, M.D. (Republican), U.S. Representative, 1st Congressional
District (Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico,
Worcester & Somerset counties; & parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore & Harford
counties), Maryland 

Capitol Hill:
506 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5311; fax: (202) 225-0254
web: http://harris.house.gov <http://harris.house.gov/>  

C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER III (Democrat), U.S. Representative, 2nd
Congressional District (parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore & Harford counties,
& Baltimore City), Maryland. 

Capitol Hill:
2453 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 - 2002
(202) 225-3061, toll free: 1-800-877-8339 (voice/tty); fax: (202) 225-3094
web: http://dutch.house.gov <http://dutch.house.gov/>  

JOHN P. SARBANES (Democrat), U.S. Representative, 3rd Congressional District
(parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore & Howard counties, & Baltimore City),
Maryland 

Capitol Hill:
2444 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4016; fax: (202) 225-9219
web: http://sarbanes.house.gov <http://sarbanes.house.gov/> 

DONNA F. EDWARDS (Democrat)
U.S. Representative, 4th Congressional District (parts of Prince George's &
Montgomery counties), Maryland 

Capitol Hill:
318 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-8699; fax: (202) 225-8714
web: http://donnaedwards.house.gov/

STENY H. HOYER (Democrat), U.S. Representative, 5th Congressional District
(Calvert, Charles & St. Mary's counties, & parts of Anne Arundel & Prince
George's counties), Maryland. 

Capitol Hill:
1705 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4131; fax: (202) 225-4300
web: http://hoyer.house.gov <http://hoyer.house.gov/> 

JOHN K. DELANEY (Democrat), U.S. Representative, 6th Congressional District
(Allegany, Garrett & Washington counties, & parts of Frederick & Montgomery
counties), Maryland. 

Capitol Hill:

1632 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 - 2006

(202) 225-2721; fax: (202) 225-2193

web: http://delaney.house.gov <http://delaney.house.gov/> 

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS (Democrat), U.S. Representative, 7th Congressional
District (parts of Baltimore City, & Baltimore & Howard counties), Maryland 

Capitol Hill:
2235 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4741; fax: (202) 225-3178
web: www.house.gov/cummings/

CHRISTOPHER VAN HOLLEN, JR. (Democrat), U.S. Representative, 8th
Congressional District (parts of Montgomery & Prince George's counties),
Maryland. 

Capitol Hill:
1707 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5341; fax: (202) 225-0375
web: http://vanhollen.house.gov <http://vanhollen.house.gov/>  

Let's facilitate restoration and expansion of research by the Federal
goverment, including US Department of Agriculture, on host specific
biological controls of Japanese Stiltgrass and other non-native invasive
species. The field trip hikers of the Sierra Club remember how bad it was
this year on our outings events. Now is a good time to request that the
Budget Control Acts of  2012 and 2013 not reduce the annual federal funding
of Federal R & D for biological Control research. (www.aaas.org/spp/rd )    

Japanese Stiltgrass has destroyed 10% of our natural environment in our
region according to the surveys done by the National Park Service several
years ago. We have been removing it at many of our preservation sites so
that native plants, and the animals that depend on them, can recolonize in
infested areas once a native or host specific non-native biological control
arrives. Unfortunately, climate change has made routine control of Japanese
Stiltgrass several times more difficult this year. Normally we remove it in
late July and come back in late August for late emergents and it takes
10-20% of the effort for the second treatment by hand pulling or spraying of
monocultures. Now an equal amount  of stiltgrass comes back to treat because
of the long hot Summers. Stiltgrass has been observed to cover much,  much
more than 10% of our habitats in our region.   

 Our tool kit for successful control of non-native invasive plants includes
preventing new invasive species from coming in from Europe, Asia, and other
continents, manual removal, the use of carefully targeted herbicides, and
host specific biological controls. 

Non-native invasive plants are covering all our natural areas in the region.
The quantity of native plants and animals replaced by competition with
non-native species is greater than that lost from all other causes except
direct development in our terrestrial habitats and water pollution in our
aquatic habitats.

Non-native invasive species of plants such as English Ivy, Japanese
Stiltgrass and Kudzu are covering the natural areas that we in the
conservation movement have worked so hard to protect from habitat
destruction, erosion and water pollution.  Just as we are making progress on
wetlands, stream bank stabilization, and endangered species, these plants
from other parts of the world have typically covered 20-90% of the surface
area of our forests, streams and meadows. Many of us feel demoralized and
powerless to combat these invaders that have few natural herbivores or other
controls. A typical park is 50-500 acres and has over a hundred species of
native plants let alone the hundreds of native species of insects,
mushrooms, snails, reptiles, mammals and birds that depend upon the plants
prior to being covered by monocultures of 5-10 alien species.

One of our most productive activities to save our natural areas is to
facilitate research that will make host specific biological controls
available. Insects that consume the non-native invasive plant species can
substitute for the controls where the species came from in the world. Of the
15 top non-native invasive plant species in the mid-Atlantic region three
(Purple Loosestrife, Mile-a-minute and Garlic Mustard) now have one or two
non-native insects or fungi that feed on them although the permit request
for garlic mustard has not been approved yet. They were brought over after
being tested for host specificity in Eurasia and then tested in quarantine
conditions in the United States. Typically, about 50 such bio-control agents
control these species in their native countries so if one or two can control
them here that is amazing. In actuality, bio-controls work about half the
time reducing the invasive species to about 10% of its former abundance. The
problem of bio-controls harming non-target organisms is only about 3% as
frequent as before the new rules of proving host specificity went into
affect about 20 years ago. Native and indigenous biocontrols are also
searched for in the range of the non-native invasive species in America. 

Success stories include a native viral pathogen (rose-rosette disease),
which is spread by a tiny native mite, Rose-rosette disease, native to the
western U.S., that has been spreading eastwardly at a slow pace and is
thought to hold the potential for eliminating multiflora rose in areas where
it grows in dense patches. Tree of Heaven is an invasive non-native plant
and is considered one of the top ten weeds in North America for about 200
years. A law passed in the 19th centuary makes it illegal to plant it in
Washington, DC. A mixture of field and laboratory research shows that native
and indigenous biocontrols from the new Southern part of the range are
available.  The insects consist of Aculops ailanthii and Atteva punctella
with various fusarium fungi co-hosts.    

-- 

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Disclaimer
Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the
opinion of the individual posting the message.

-- 

Cynthia Boettner, Coordinator
Invasive Plant Control Initiative
Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
103 E. Plumtree Rd.
Sunderland, MA  01375
Phone: 413-548-8002  ext. 115
FAX: 413-548-9725
Email:  Cynthia_Boettner at fws.gov
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