Cut-leaved teasel is an invasive weed along highway corridors and is classified noxious in four states, including Missouri. Few herbicides have been examined for cut-leaved teasel control. Herbicides were evaluated for efficacy on established plants and residual activity for suppressing seedling emergence. Various growth regulator herbicides, amino acid inhibitors, and paraquat were applied on established teasel at two locations in central Missouri in fall 2003 and spring 2004, and two additional locations in fall 2004 and spring 2005. At 2 wk after treatment (WAT), paraquat resulted in the highest injury of teasel (85%), but injury declined over time. At 4 WAT, teasel control was most consistent with dicamba + diflufenzopyr applied in spring, ranging from 75 to 94% control. At 8 wk, glyphosate, dicamba + diflufenzopyr, metsulfuron-methyl, imazapyr, and combinations of growth regulator herbicides with 2,4-D were most effective, with teasel control from 86 to 100%. Control with 2,4-D alone was inconsistent; sulfosulfuron, sulfometuron-methyl, and paraquat were ineffective. Residual herbicides did not reduce teasel seedling emergence the following year. A number of herbicides were effective in managing emerged plants but reinfestations of treated sites is likely, even with the residual herbicides used in this research.

An experiment compared 2 yr of mowing, mulching, spot treatment with glyphosate, or no maintenance for reed canarygrass control and measured their effect on the establishment of red alder and arroyo willow. At one site, pretransplant control of reed canarygrass was poor, and mulching or no maintenance gave 9 and 14% control, respectively, at 5 mo after planting (MAP), but glyphosate spot treatment and mowing resulted in 89% and 72% control, respectively. The highest leafiness percentage by 24 MAP for arroyo willow and red alder at that site occurred in spot-treated plots (59 and 6%, respectively). Tree protection resulted in 30% more arroyo willow saplings with leaves at 24 MAP, at an average height of 68 cm at 17 MAP. Over the 2-yr trial at that site, mowing required far more time (30.6 min/plot) than either mulching or spot spraying (18.6 and 13.5 min/plot, respectively). At a second site, pretransplant weed control was excellent and maintenance programs controlled reed canarygrass from 88 to 98% by 5 MAP. Tree leafiness of red alder was improved 20% at 24 MAP by tree protection, with protected trees being 107 cm tall compared with 64 cm when left bare. Over the 2-yr trial at that site, mulching required 14.8 min/plot, compared with 12.9 and 7.6 min/plot for mowing and spot treatment. Annual spot treatment of reed canarygrass regrowth with glyphosate may be the most cost-effective means of achieving successful reestablishment of native broadleaf trees in northwestern riparian systems.

Studies were conducted in 2001 and 2002 to determine the effect of POST herbicides on the spectral reflectance of corn. POST corn herbicides evaluated included 2,4-D, atrazine, bromoxynil, dicamba + diflufenzopyr, nicosulfuron, and primisulfuron. Multispectral and hyperspectral data were collected and spectral properties were analyzed using SAS procedures and MultiSpec image analysis. Corn treated with POST applications of atrazine and primisulfuron could not be distinguished from nontreated corn regardless of data type or analysis method used. 2,4-D and dicamba + diflufenzopyr were the most readily distinguished from nontreated corn plots using both hyperspectral and multispectral data.

Most management tactics used against leafy spurge are not economical, practical, or efficacious when used alone. Combinations of the biological control agent, Aphthona beetles, the herbicide imazapic (105 g/ha), and interseeded native grass species were evaluated for leafy spurge management at two sites: Sheyenne National Grassland and Ekre Grassland Preserve in North Dakota during 2001 to 2005. At the Sheyenne site, over a 5-yr study period, leafy spurge was reestablishing its stem density after a single application of imazapic, but stand suppression was maintained to < 11 stems/m2 when management combined imazapic with Aphthona or interseeding of native grasses. Aphthona beetles established at the Sheyenne site, but declined as leafy spurge density decreased. However, the remaining Aphthona population continued to suppress leafy spurge density. Leafy spurge stem control was successfully maintained for 3 yr by Aphthona and grass competition without repetition of the imazapic treatment. Leafy spurge root dry weights were reduced by 66% (< 111g/m2) in the insect plots during this period. At the Ekre site, similar results were observed for the first 3 yr. However, in the fourth yr, a failure of biological control agents to establish resulted in the resurgence of leafy spurge. During this study, lower Aphthona emergence was observed in imazapic-treated plots, possibly due to reduced leafy spurge density.

Weed resistance monitoring has been routinely conducted in the Northern Great Plains of Canada (Prairies) since the mid-1990s. Most recently, random surveys were conducted in Alberta in 2001, Manitoba in 2002, and Saskatchewan in 2003 totaling nearly 800 fields. In addition, nearly 1,300 weed seed samples were submitted by growers across the Prairies between 1996 and 2006 for resistance testing. Collected or submitted samples were screened for group 1 [acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitor] and/or group 2 [acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor] resistance. Twenty percent of 565 sampled fields had an herbicide-resistant (HR) wild oat biotype. Most populations exhibited broad cross-resistance across various classes of group 1 or group 2 herbicides. In Manitoba, 22% of 59 fields had group 1–HR green foxtail. Group 2–HR biotypes of kochia were documented in Saskatchewan, common chickweed and spiny sowthistle in Alberta, and green foxtail and redroot pigweed in Manitoba. Across the Prairies, HR weeds are estimated to occur in fields covering an area of nearly 5 million ha. Of 1,067 wild oat seed samples submitted by growers and industry for testing between 1996 and 2006, 725 were group 1 HR, 34 group 2 HR, and 55 groups 1 and 2 HR. Of 80 submitted green foxtail samples, 26 were confirmed group 1 HR; most populations originated from southern Manitoba where the weed is most abundant. Similar to the field surveys, various group 2–HR biotypes were confirmed among submitted samples: kochia, wild mustard, field pennycress, Galium spp., common chickweed, and common hempnettle. Information from grower questionnaires indicates patterns of herbicide usage are related to location, changing with cropping system. Two herbicide modes of action most prone to select resistance, groups 1 and 2, continue to be widely and repeatedly used. There is little evidence that growers are aware of the level of resistance within their fields, but a majority have adopted herbicide rotations to proactively or reactively manage HR weeds.

Late-season field surveys conducted in Indiana from 2003 to 2005 showed that common lambsquarters and giant ragweed plants were present in 11 and 22%, respectively, of randomly sampled soybean fields that also contained glyphosate-resistant horseweed. In the fall of 2005 and 2006, seed from 13 common lambsquarters and 22 giant ragweed populations were collected from previously surveyed fields that had confirmed glyphosate-sensitive or -resistant horseweed. The objective of this study was to determine whether the presence of glyphosate-resistant horseweed was correlated with the presence of common lambsquarters and giant ragweed biotypes with elevated tolerance to glyphosate. Through a series of greenhouse screens, 57% of common lambsquarters and 31% of giant ragweed populations collected from fields that had glyphosate-resistant horseweed expressed elevated levels of glyphosate tolerance. However, elevated tolerance to glyphosate was expressed by 33% of giant ragweed and 100% of common lambsquarters populations collected in fields that had glyphosate-sensitive horseweed. Therefore, under the parameters of this experiment and through different types of analyses, we concluded there was not a strong correlation between the late-season presence of glyphosate-resistant horseweed and common lambsquarters and giant ragweed populations with elevated glyphosate tolerance in the same field. A number of the weed populations expressed significant stunting from exposure to glyphosate, but were able to resume growth. Thus, researchers should evaluate plant regrowth in addition to biomass suppression when making assessments of glyphosate resistance in weed populations through greenhouse and field screening.

Dispersal is a key component of plant population and community dynamics and the spread of weeds. Although many species of economic concern disperse via tumbleweed mechanisms, our ability to estimate relevant dispersal parameters can be hindered by the lack of a controlled environment that can be provided by a wind tunnel. Established wind tunnels are typically closed-circuit, clean systems and are therefore unsuitable for biological or ecological research. We designed and constructed a wind tunnel to estimate dispersal parameters for diffuse knapweed. Our design was a tunnel that utilizes the Venturi effect to obtain maximum flow velocity while pulling, rather than pushing, air through the test section. Flow velocity was continuously variable from 0 to 8 m/s, and the tunnel was equipped with instrumentation for measuring the force exerted on plants by wind. Our modular design provided a way to effectively estimate key parameters that govern the dispersal of tumbleweeds, and was readily constructed and stored in research facilities.

Field experiments were conducted to determine the effect of simulated rainfall after glyphosate application on tall fescue control. Three glyphosate formulations, three simulated rainfall amounts, two application rates, and three rain-free periods were evaluated. Glyphosate formulations evaluated included Roundup Original®, Roundup Pro®, and Roundup ProDry®. Herbicide drying periods, or rain-free intervals, included 15, 30, or 60 min. Simulated rainfall amounts were 0, 0.25, or 0.64 cm. Application rates of glyphosate were 3.4 or 6.7 kg ae/ha. Averaged across glyphosate formulation and simulated rainfall amount, excellent (≥ 90%) tall fescue control was observed when no simulated rainfall occurred within 60 min after application, whereas good (≥ 80%) tall fescue control was observed when 30 rain-free min were provided. Although current glyphosate labels are vague about rainfastness, these data indicate that critical rain-free periods may be as short as 30 min when higher application rates are used.

Field studies were conducted from 2000 to 2002 to evaluate yellow nutsedge control and peanut yield when diclosulam and imazapic were applied at the rate recommended by the manufacturer (1×) and reduced (1/2×) rates in single and twin-row planting patterns. In 2001, both diclosulam and imazapic applied to the twin-row pattern at the full and reduced rate provided better yellow nutsedge control than herbicide applications to the single-row spacing. Because of excessive rainfall in 2002, yellow nutsedge control was considerably reduced with all treatments. Imazapic at the full rate (71 g/ha) controlled yellow nutsedge 80 to 96% in the twin-row pattern, and 79 to 86% in single-row spacings. Yellow nutsedge control was less than 65% when diclosulam and imazapic were applied at the reduced rate. The twin-row configuration yielded higher than the single-row pattern when averaged across herbicides in 1 yr. All herbicide treatments enhanced yield relative to the nontreated control, except the reduced rate of imazapic in 2002. This study revealed that to fully maximize yellow nutsedge control, the full rate of either imazapic or diclosulam should be applied to peanuts planted in a single or twin-row spacing. However, these treatments may not necessarily increase peanut yields.