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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Invasive Species and Pollinator Health » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #200835
Title: Biologically-based integrated management of salt cedar on western rangeland watersheds

Author
item Williams, Livy
item Snyder, Keirith
item Longland, William - Bill
item Blank, Robert - Bob
item Young, James
item Carruthers, Raymond

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2006
Publication Date: 10/3/2006
Citation: Williams Iii, L.H., Snyder, K.A., Longland, W.S., Blank, R.R., Young, J.A., Carruthers, R.I. 2006. Biologically-based integrated management of salt cedar on western rangeland watersheds [abstract]. In: 2006 Tamarisk Research Conference. Current Status and Future Directions. p. 6.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This poster describes research recently begun at the USDA-ARS Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit in Reno, Nevada. Our goal is to develop ecologically-sustainable means of suppressing salt cedar, as well as other exotic, invasive weeds on the temperate watersheds of the Intermountain West. The investigations we propose include basic and applied studies using detailed hypothesis-driven experiments conducted in the laboratory, greenhouse, and field. We have adopted a “weed management pipeline” approach that integrates classical biological control with studies aimed at understanding how to optimize the beneficial effects of biological control agents while minimizing their potential detrimental effects on the soil and native flora and fauna. This includes work using remote sensing and other tools to characterize the spatio-temporal dispersal and impact of biological control agents on a region-wide, long-term scale. Our research approach then extends to address ecological interactions between biological control agents, weeds, and soil to understand plant ecophysiology and hydrology, and finally with studies on restoration-rehabilitation of degraded watersheds. Successful control of a target weed usually requires decades of research effort, and the research proposed here will be an important step towards ecologically-rational management of some of the most important invasive weeds in western U.S.A.