[MPWG] Japanese stiltgrass disease update June 2 2010

Sun Jun 6 12:05:30 CDT 2010

Bob:

Probably the most important thing to acknowledge is that where I live and  
work, the middle of the Appalachian Mesophytic forest, is a place of  
exceptionally diverse and vibrant vegetation.  Unlike New England  where I grew up 
and spent the early part of my forestry career, this area has  never 
experienced glaciation.    

In my work around West Virginia I have ample opportunity to encounter  vast 
areas with limited vegetative diversity on nearly all levels.  This  
limited diversity can be the result of multiple causes, including  past land 
abuses such as: overgrazing, rapacious timber  harvesting, extraction of minerals 
and fragmentation of the forest  through coal, oil and natural gas recovery 
activities (which  could equate to parcelization and subdivision in more 
urban  states)  

I agree that in many locations being concerned with invasive species is a  
lost cause with little hope for success.  Currently, hundreds of  thousands 
of acres of West Virginia fall into this category.  

However, in my own experience as a private forester, I have also had the  
opportunity to encounter exceptionally diverse and productive areas of  
woodland absent of all damaging invasive species.  

Being able to experience both conditions on a regular basis has convinced  
me of the benefit and value of containing or controlling the spread of 
invasive  plant species into healthy woodland.

I am glad to see that Japanese stiltgrass has a disease killing it  locally 
but there could also be additional problems to contend with  as several 
species of native plants appear to show disease  symptoms similar to those 
found on dying  stiltgrass.   

I think that it is a comforting idea to imagine that we have large  areas 
of Federal land like National Forests and National Parks where invasive  
species may never be a problem and that examples of intact forest ecosystems of  
all types will always be healthy and readily accessible.  

However, 100% of my work is on private property in an area with one of the  
smallest proportions of publicly owned land in the nation and very little  
modern information is known about this land or the unique diversity it  
contains. 

Many private woodland owners that I work with, upon learning about the  
unique ecological diversity of their property, choose to undertake management  
practices and activities that will protect the diversity of what can  
rapidly evolve into an important part of their legacy.  

Such a response has only served to strengthen my resolve at the  
justification of the expenses incurred along the way.  The beauty of  invasive species 
management is in the beauty created by the absence of  invasive species in 
an infected site. 

As a point of reference.  Here at Crummies Creek nearly all invasive  plant 
control measures are physical or mechanical.  Growing medicinal  plants 
like Goldenseal, ginseng and black Cohosh generally makes the chemical  
alternative unattractive.  

Russ Richardson

In a message dated 6/6/2010 8:57:52 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
rlb14 at cornell.edu writes:

Hi Russ
Nature has a way of restoring dynamic  equilibrium to many ecosystems. How 
much money did you waste trying to  eradicate this weed? How much money have 
others spent trying to do the  same with other so called invasive plants 
that will eventually find thier  niche too, How much environmental damage has 
been done by spraying herbicides  needlessly? 
Bob

____________________________________
 From: mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org  
[mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of ForestRuss at aol.com  [ForestRuss at aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 11:39  PM
To: MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: [MPWG]  Japanese stiltgrass disease update June 2 2010

MPWG:

The disease that was discovered to be killing Japanese stiltgrass,  
Microstegium vimineum, in Calhoun County, West Virginia during 2008 and  2009 has 
spread to new sites. The first signs of disease this year was in  scattered 
locations starting about May 7.  

In areas where the disease was active last fall there was limited  
germination of stiltgrass this spring and many plants that have  developed in those 
areas now show disease signs.  

Two years ago this road was completely dominated by stiltgrass that grew  
so tall and thick that all the water bars on the road were obscured.   This 
area was hit by the disease last fall as the seed was starting to  set.  The 
dominant greenery in this photo is black Cohosh and white  aster.  Nearly 
all stiltgrass present at the site is diseased.   Within 100 feet of this 
photo there is healthy stiltgrass that is almost 18"  tall. 

The following three photos were taken in an abandoned field area that had  
become a stiltgrass savannah.  The site has  scattered apple  trees and deer 
had helped to spread the stiltgrass across the hillside.   This savannah 
covers more than fifteen acres and showed no signs of disease in  2009.

The trail in the foreground has a heavy cover of sickly stiltgrass.   For 
several hundred feet of this trail nearly 100% of the stiltgrass plants  are 
covered with lesions.

In some areas the thatch from last year is still easy to find because  
there is very little new growth for 2010.

There are areas with no living stiltgrass plants and the natives are  
taking off.

It appears that the fungus killing stiltgrass can survive a forest  fire.  
In early April a forest fire 
burned over 20 acres of Crummies Creek including areas where I had  
photographed the disease last year.  Some Japanese stiltgrass seed  survived the 
fire and germinated in early May but now nearly all plants are  showing 
disease signs.

At this time no one has determined the vectors for spread of the  disease 
but a paper on some of the specifics of the "Bipolaris"  disease has recently 
been published by Luke Flory of Indiana  University.

Sincerely,

Russ Richardson, Certified Forester
Crummies Creek Tree Farm
PO Box 207
Arnoldsburg, WV 25234

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