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Effectiveness of a decade of treatments to reduce invasive buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2023

Yue M. Li Open the ORCID record for Yue M. Li [Opens in a new window] ,
Seth M. Munson Open the ORCID record for Seth M. Munson [Opens in a new window] ,
Ya-Ching Lin Open the ORCID record for Ya-Ching Lin [Opens in a new window]  and
Perry Grissom Open the ORCID record for Perry Grissom [Opens in a new window]
Yue M. Li
Affiliation:
Conservation Research Scientist, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ, USA; Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Tucson, AZ, USA
Seth M. Munson*
Affiliation:
Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Ya-Ching Lin
Affiliation:
GIS Specialist, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ, USA
Perry Grissom
Affiliation:
Restoration Ecologist, Saguaro National Park, National Park Service, Tucson, AZ, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Seth M. Munson, Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, 2255 N. Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. Email: smunson@usgs.gov
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Abstract

The invasion of nonnative grasses threatens biodiversity and ecosystem function globally through competition with native plant species and increases to wildfire frequency and intensity. Management actions to reduce buffelgrass [Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link], an invasive warm-season perennial bunchgrass, are widely implemented, with chemical and mechanical treatments extending over two decades within Saguaro National Park in the Sonoran Desert of North America. We assessed how the effectiveness of treatments to reduce P. ciliare cover spanning from 2011 to 2020 were influenced by stage of invasion, treatment type and intensity, and environmental conditions. An increase in treatment effectiveness was largely explained by high initial cover of P. ciliare, an indicator of a late invasion stage and associated with high treatment intensity. Treatments had potential to be effective in patches as small as 0.3-m2 P. ciliare canopy per 400-m−2 area (<0.001% canopy cover) across treatment types and environmental gradients. Chemical treatments had higher or equal effectiveness compared with mechanical treatments, and greater reductions in P. ciliare were associated with shorter average years of treatment interruptions, or gaps, and to a lesser degree, total years of treatment. In many cases, P. ciliare was reduced with as little as 2 yr of treatment, but more than 3 average years of treatment gap could result in reduced treatment effectiveness. There was generally higher treatment effectiveness on shallow slopes, north- and east-facing aspects, and on higher elevations within one district of the park. Our findings highlight that resource-intensive treatments in all but the smallest patches of P. ciliare have largely been effective. Further opportunities for improvement include more frequent surveillance, limiting treatment gaps to ≤3 yr in areas of low P. ciliare cover, and comparison of treated with untreated areas.

Keywords

Arizonaglyphosate herbicide treatmentnonnative exotic grass speciesSaguaro National ParkSonoran Desertwildfire risk
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 2023 , pp. 27 - 37
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Creative Commons
This is a work of the US Government and is not subject to copyright protection within the United States. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Weed Science Society of America
Copyright
© US Geological Survey, 2023

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Kelly Lyons, Trinity University

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