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Integrated Management of Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) Using Biological Control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Angelica M. Herrera-Reddy ,
Raymond I. Carruthers  and
Nicholas J. Mills
Angelica M. Herrera-Reddy*
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710
Raymond I. Carruthers
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710
Nicholas J. Mills
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Mulford Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: angelica.reddy@gmail.com
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Abstract

Integrated weed management strategies (IWM) are being advocated and employed to control invasive plants species. In this study, we compared three management strategies (biological control alone [BC], BC with fire [BC + F], and BC with mowing [BC + M]) to determine if physical controls reduce seed production by Scotch broom and interfere with the action of the biological control agent—the Scotch broom seed weevil. We measured seed production and seed predation by the weevil at both pod and plant scale, and seed bank density over two field seasons. We found no difference in the number of seeds per pod among management strategies. However, combining management strategies (BC + M and BC + F) resulted in significant reductions in pods per plant, mature seeds per plant, and seed bank density relative to biological control alone. We did not find differences among management strategies in number of weevils per pod or proportion of seeds predated by the weevil at either pod or whole-plant scale. However, combining management strategies (BC + M and BC + F) resulted in a significant reduction in healthy mature seeds per plant relative to biological control alone. Although both integrated strategies outperformed biological control alone in reducing seed production and the seed bank, with no statistical difference between them, we propose that short-rotation prescribed fire could prove to be a more effective strategy for long-term management of Scotch broom due to its potential for slightly greater depletion of the seed bank.

Keywords

Scotch broom, Cytisus scoparius (L.) LinkScotch broom seed weevil, Exapion fuscirostre FabriciusIntegrated weed management (IWM)invasive speciesprescribed firemechanical removal
Type
Research
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 69 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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