Invasive plants in wetlands and their control - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Invasive plants in wetlandsand their control

Neil Anderson

University of Minnesota

ander044@umn.edu

• Early Detection:
• Surveillance
• Monitoring
• Control:
• Rapid response
• Goal: Prevent new introductions

• Used for:
• Monitoring for potential invasives
• Assess effectiveness of vegetation management techniques used
• Document rare/endangered species
• Methods:
• Garmin hand-held units (above-water)
• Under-water technologies (Trimble units)
• Cameras,
• Geographic positioning system or GPS mapping with ESRI ArcGIS software
• Positive plant identification

http://www.aquaticcontroltech.com/index.html

• One-time vs. scheduled monitoring
• Types: in-lake, storm water, tributary sampling
• On-site measurements: temperature, dissolved oxygen, water quality
• Analysis laboratory: pH, total alkalinity, N/P series, turbidity, color, bacteria

http://www.aquaticcontroltech.com/index.html

• Map of water depths
• Necessary for determining type(s) of control methods
• e.g. for a drawdown – bathymetry map will calculate water volume and exposed area during drawdown
• For chemical treatment: accurate water depths, volumetric data to calculate herbicide application amounts

http://www.aquaticcontroltech.com/index.html

• May be needed for permitting compliance
• Regulatory agencies

• Mechanical
• Physical
• Biological
• Chemical
• Site Modification
• Disturbance Regime
• Ecological Controls
• Prevention
• Education

Risky Business: Invasive species management on National Forests A review and summary of needed changes in current plans, policies and programs

(www.kettlerange.org/weeds/)

• Hand-pulling
• Special tools may be required, e.g. Weed Wrench (New Tribe, 5517 Riverbanks Rd., Grants Pass, OR 97527)
• Use the best tool(s) for the species

Lythrum salicaria removal in the 1930s

• Used when plant density is low or intermixed invasive and desirable species
• May be used with mechanical harvesting, if water edges are not deep enough for diving

• 3-year study
• While numbers of plants pulled were 3x greater each year, milfoil reproduction was exponential (10x greater/yr)

(http://www.dudleypond.org/Milfoil_Report_for_2006_for_ConCom.pdf)

• Effective for "area selective" control of invasive aquatics: clearing or cutting through large populations
• May enhance access for boating, fishing, swimming
• Works for all plant species, but best for those with a dense surface canopy or those annuals with high seed production (Trapa, water chestnut).
• Disadvantages?

• A floating barge with a ‘backhoe’, rake
• Effective technique for selective removal of rooted vegetation
• Can clear debris, e.g. muck, peat, decaying leaves
• Hydraulic paddle wheel for propulsion
• Can operate in water 0.3 m to ~4 m depths
• Duration of control ranges for 1 season (Myriophyllum) to 2+ yrs or longer for deep rooted plants (Typha, Nelumbo)

• May provide years of benefit, if done correctly
• Costly!
• Significant ecosystem disturbances
• Requires careful articulation of purpose
• Sufficient deepening of area needed to preclude light requirements of rooted plants
• Excavation should not expose inorganic substrates that prevent plant recolonization

• Hot water / steam treatment (“wet infra-red”)*
• Removes waxy cuticles, causing quick death
• Not plant specific
• Enhanced with a surfactant
• Temporary decrease for ~1 month

*Waipuna Int’l., Carrboro, N. Carolina, USA

• Aeration, circulation of stagnant water
• Suppresses algae
• Enhance oxygen levels for fisheries

• Permeable or ‘Benthic’ barriers secured to lake bottom
• Eliminates rooted plant growth
• Effective, ~low cost weed control strategy for small beachfront areas

• Lowering water levels
• Requires water control structures to drop water levels for extended time periods
• In winter, lowering the water level exposes the sediment to freezing, water loss
• Best for species with no overwintering structures
• Negative consequences?

• Herbicides
• Broadleaf, grass
• Selective, non-selective
• Modes of action: inhibition of electron transport, growth regulation (auxin, cytokinin mimicry), amino acid synthesis inhibition, lipid synthesis inhibition, seedling growth inhibition, photosynthesis inhibition, cell membrane disruption, and pigment inhibition (Anderson, 1994)
• General in specificity, side effects, application issues
• Hazards

• Primarily used as adjuvants with herbicides
• Increase effectiveness of hot water treatments
• May control weeds directly
• (Havey, 1999).

• Seed bank control (Quarles, 1999, Luken, 1990, Luken, 1997)
• Invasives often dominate seed banks
• Factors affecting seed bank quantity, viability, quality:
• (1) Local vegetation sources
• (2) Seed germination rates
• (3) Seed decay rate, physical destruction of seeds
• (4) Seed predation
• (5) Reseeding efforts

• Research and release of agents carries the risk that unintended hosts will be attacked and decimated
• Not every native plant and growing environment can be tested.  Examples:
• Natural insect enemies (Hobbs and Humphries, 1995)
• Introduced invertebrate control species
• Flea beetles (Aphthona spp.) reduces leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)
• Galerucella beetles control some populations of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
• Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) control with the head weevil, Rhinocyllus conicus
• Genetically altered (transgenic or designer) insects may eventually be introduced for weed control

• Herbaceous fish: control of nuisance plants, algae
• Triploid (sterile) grass carp (nonselective)
• Require permitting
• Limited to ponds, small lakes where outflow can be blocked
• Herbaceous insects: control invasive, submerged or emergent aquatic plants
• Milfoil weevil (Euhrychiopsis lecontei)
• Purple loosestrife beetle (Galerucella sp)
• Mixed success

• Not risk-free, e.g., unanticipated host switching
• Won’t establish or control target pest
• Establishes but does not increase or spread on its own
• Successful only 16-26% of the time

• Blue, black dyes
• Alter sunlight penetration into a lake or pond
• Reduces photosynthetic capacity of plants, algae
• Not recommended for “natural” ponds
• More suitable for contained, man-made ponds with little or no outflow (storm water detention ponds, reflecting pond, golf course pond, etc)
• Break down over time
• Periodic reapplication

• Production of plant growth, germination inhibitors by plants (Aldrich, 1987; Harrison and Peterson, 1991)
• Multiple benefits (Schmidt, 1980; Jarvis et. al., 1985)
• Controlled allelopathy: possible through planting of allelopathic plants, application of allelopathic chemcals or genetically modifying a plant to produce allelopathic substances

• Hybridization - Invading species may evolve or adapt to a less (or more) pathogenic form over time
• Well-adapted invading species are less lethal to their host ecosystem, e.g., a parasite that kills its host ecosystem is not likely to be successful
• This effect represents an interaction between the newly invaded ecosystem as well as within the invading organism
• Biologically engineered hybrids - Genetic engineering has the potential to change the fitness of invading species: lethal mutations, sterility

• Nutrient availability and cycling to manage invasives: tend to be less dependent on specific soil nutrients
• Soil pH - high or low soil pH depending on species, e.g., blueberries and other Ericaceous species are acid-loving, whereas species such as some bluegrasses, junipers, etc. favor basic soils
• Soil amendments can favor desirable species, affecting vegetation dominance
• Timing of fertilization encourages certain species (Deal, 1966)

• Amount, timing of shade
• Duration
• Impact
• Effective vegetation management tool (Elmore, 1993b).

• Straw mulch (6-8cm): 98% control of yellow star-thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) (Dremann 1996)
• Other types:
• Greenwaste materials, cover crops (Elmore, 1996; Weston, 1996)
• Allelopathic mulching (Putnam and Weston, 1986; Altieri and Doll. 1978; Quarles, 1999).

• Prioritize new invaders
• Use signage along infested areas to avoid public transport
• Seed transport: a primary cause of the spread of invaders. Prevented by
• 1. Contaminated seeding mixtures (Quarles 1999); use only 100% noxious-weed free seed
• 2. Avoid contaminated mulch
• 3. Avoid contaminated topsoil (Quarles, 1999)
• 4. Use quarantines and vehicle washing, e.g., of tractors, cattle and logging trucks that may have just passed through a weed-infested site and are planning to go to a new site
• Eliminate the cause, not the symptoms, of the spread of invaders

• A. Make a list of targeted user groups
• B. Provide weed identification information distribution at central locations
• C. Post public relations / media / local displays at central locations
• D. Establish a weed sighting report form
• E. Sponsor research projects that study invasive species (Morrison, 1997). Projects should include a set of study goals; replicate sampling; randomization; controls; preliminary sampling; and sampling authentication. Projects might include setting thresholds for measurement; coherent problem questions; area division; appropriate sample sizes; data distribution tests.

• ~Yes! Early detection / rapid response
• Mechanical control, e.g. hand-picking of snails and hand-pulling of weeds
• Chemical control, e.g. using toxic baits against vertebrates and spraying insecticides against insect pests
• Biopesticides, e.g. Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) sprayed against insect pests;sterile male releases, usually combined with chemical control
• Habitat management, e.g. grazing and prescribed burning;hunting of invasive vertebrates.
• No! Phalaris arundinacea—virtually impossible

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