Thursday, January 22, 2009
Reasons Why
Our goal is to erradicate the current known populations of spotted knapweed from Alaska. Why? because it is a plant that is capable of impacting Alaskan ecosystems. It is capable of forming dense stands in natural communities. It can reduce native plant population size and decreases plant diversity, reduces forage quality, and habitat.
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Thanks for setting this up, Melinda. I think this will work really well.
ReplyDeleteI have been able to get into this blog both on my home computer and my federal computer, using my federal email address as my sign-in name. So I don't think federal employees will have any trouble using this blog.
ReplyDeleteGood to know. Thanks for trying it out.
ReplyDeleteah success on accessing. took me a bit of fumbling. thanks for setting this up melinda.
ReplyDeleteMelinda - this is a really good idea.
ReplyDeleteJust want to leave you with a few things that have worked for us here in Wisconsin with controlling spotted knapweed (CHEMICAL):
1. Chemical - A new chemical (2006) called Milestone put out by DowAG chemical (http://www.dowagro.com/range/resource/milestone_faq.htm).
This chemical put on at 5-7oz per acre has shown 2 years of control on spotted knapweed when applied during the bolting stage (June in WI). We are going into our third year of the study and are hopeful the population will still be set back.
But since S. knapweed has a fantastic seed dormancy (8+ yrs) we group grass competition in with this type of chemical control. In WI we use native plants such as little and big bluestem, indian grass, and june grass. Milestone is tolerate to a majority of grass species, but planting that spring or fall after application has shown up to 80% mortality of seedlings. We are testing out frost seeding methods - where you would put out the grass seeds on a melting snow pack (would be in March here in WI) for greater results.
2. Biological control - Typically 2 or more acres of s. knapweed infestation makes biological control a good option.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dnr.state.wi.us/invasives/fact/pdfs/knapweedFactsheet.pdf
The agents we are using here in Wisconsin are:
Seedhead feeders: Larinus minutus - L. obtusus (seedhead weevils), Urophoroa affinis - U. quadrifasciata (Seedhead flies). See descriptions on the internet site above.
Root mining agents: Cyphocleonus achates (Root-mining weevil) and Agapeta zoegana (root-mining moth). These agents are a key portion to the biological program but are probably the most difficult to collect. Currently is Wisconsin we are creating insectory pens to raise Cyphocleonus achates, making it easier to harvest large numbers of agents. This pen was first designed by Jim Story in Montana, he has had great success with it so we hope to have simular results here in WI. To take a look at the design and program that goes along with this pen view the following websites.
http://mtwow.org/
http://mtwow.org/Whitehall-Noxious-Weed-Control-Project.htm
This looks great Melinda. I never really looked for a biocontrol on the knapweed. My guess is that we don't have enough of a population to sustain any specialized insect biocontrol. Linaria vulgaris potentially has a biocontrol in the form of a seed weevil, but it has been in Alaska for a long time. Hopefully, knapweeds stay in Alaska will be abbreviated.
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