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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Burns, Oregon » Range and Meadow Forage Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #156741
Title: INTEGRATING 2,4-D AND SHEEP GRAZING TO REHABILITATE SPOTTED KNAPWEED-INFESTED RANGELAND

Author
item Sheley, Roger
item JACOBS, JAMES - MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
item MARTIN, JOHN - MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Journal of Range Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/10/2003
Publication Date: 7/1/2004
Citation: Sheley, R.L., Jacobs, J.S., Martin, J.M. 2004. Integrating 2,4-d and sheep grazing to rehabilitate spotted knapweed-infested rangeland. Journal of Range Management. 57(4):371-375.

Interpretive Summary: Spotted knapweed has invaded millions of acres of once productive rangeland throughout the western United States. Integrated spotted knapweed management strategies are needed. We investigated the potential to integrate 2, 4-D and sheep grazing alone and in combination. The 2, 4-D controlled nearly all the adult spotted knapweed, and the sheep consumed nearly all the newly emerging seedlings. In response, grass yields were highest where 2, 4-D was combined with sheep grazing. We believe that this integrated spotted knapweed strategy offer managers and effective method for managing this invasive weed.

Technical Abstract: Effective integrated weed management requires understanding the impacts of management strategies applied alone and in combination. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of 2,4-D and repeated sheep (Ovis aries) grazing applied alone and in combination on spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa Lam.) and perennial grasses. We hypothesized that integrating a single spring 2,4-D application would remove the adult plants, repeated sheep grazing would control rosettes, and spotted knapweed density, cover and biomass would decrease, allowing residual grasses to reoccupy the sites. A single spring 2,4-D application at 2.1 kg a.i. ha-1, repeated annual sheep grazing of 95% spotted knapweed or 60% grass utilization, and repeated sheep grazing and 2,4-D combined were applied to small pastures at two sites in western Montana beginning in 1997 and continued through 2001. Spotted knapweed rosette and flowering plant density, and spotted knapweed and perennial grass cover and biomass were sampled from 1998 through 2001. Spotted knapweed rosette density was 61.7, 34.3, 44.3, and 0.3 m-2 in the control, sheep grazing, 2,4-D, and combined sheep grazing and 2,4-D treatments, respectively, at 1 site in 2001. Spotted knapweed flowering plant density increased from 3.7 in 1998 to 10.7 m-2 in 2002 in the 2,4-D treatment whereas there was no increase in the 2,4-D combined with sheep grazing treatment from 1998 to 2002. Perennial grass biomass was 6.9, 8.4, 25.7, and 19.7 in the control, sheep grazing, 2-4-D, and combined sheep grazing and 2,4-D treatments, respectively, averaged for both sites and four years of sampling. Herbicides released perennial grasses from weed competition and changed the weed population from mature, less palatable plants to juvenile plants that were preferred by sheep