Description
Invasive annual grasses (IAG) negatively impact rangeland across the Western US. Within the Intermountain Region, downy brome, Japanese brome, medusahead, and ventenata are among the most prevalent invasive annual grass species. Research conducted at Utah State University has addressed numerous approaches to IAG management as well investigating restoration strategies of highly degraded sites. Under harsh climates common to the Western US, restoration has been extremely challenging, causing focus to shift towards prioritizing the protection of existing desirable plant communities. In either restoration or plant community protection approaches, annual rainfall is the largest driver of success. Changes or shifts in plant community composition can be positive or negative depending on the management approach, herbicide selection, and application timing. Earlier work demonstrated that treatments including imazapic or glyphosate will decrease IAG population for 18 months or less allowing IAG pressure to return to pre-treatment levels within a year or two after treatment. The more recent use of indaziflam in research has demonstrated that when existing plant communities are released from competition with IAG for more than one year, increases in desirable plant cover, plant biomass, and even plant diversity can be observed.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Preventing Conversion to a Highly Degraded Invasive Dominated System
Invasive annual grasses (IAG) negatively impact rangeland across the Western US. Within the Intermountain Region, downy brome, Japanese brome, medusahead, and ventenata are among the most prevalent invasive annual grass species. Research conducted at Utah State University has addressed numerous approaches to IAG management as well investigating restoration strategies of highly degraded sites. Under harsh climates common to the Western US, restoration has been extremely challenging, causing focus to shift towards prioritizing the protection of existing desirable plant communities. In either restoration or plant community protection approaches, annual rainfall is the largest driver of success. Changes or shifts in plant community composition can be positive or negative depending on the management approach, herbicide selection, and application timing. Earlier work demonstrated that treatments including imazapic or glyphosate will decrease IAG population for 18 months or less allowing IAG pressure to return to pre-treatment levels within a year or two after treatment. The more recent use of indaziflam in research has demonstrated that when existing plant communities are released from competition with IAG for more than one year, increases in desirable plant cover, plant biomass, and even plant diversity can be observed.
