Location: Invasive Plant Research Laboratory
Project Number: 6032-22000-013-085-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 1, 2021
End Date: Aug 30, 2025
Objective:
1. Establish cooperative agreement to support 1-2 MS student to investigate impacts of integrated management treatments on aquatic vertebrates in treatment areas.
2. The student will work with USDA to design experiments and be part of the team to implement the experimental design.
3. The student will present any findings in written reports, referred articles and scientific meetings.
Approach:
Aquatic invasive plants cause millions of dollars of damage to Florida's freshwater ecosystems. The bulk of their control has relied on herbicides which can have harmful impacts to non-target vegetation and some have been associated with harmful human impacts. Integrated management of aquatic invasive weeds using a combination of biological control, mechanical removal and herbicidal control may provide better control than any one of these methods and frequently reduces the volume and interval of herbicide needed to reach control and maintenance status. While we primarily look at impacts on the plant community, the vertebrate community in these areas is both economically and ecologically important.
