Weed biocontrol

Weed biocontrol

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Listen carefully to Natural Resources Specialist Kent McAdoo at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension: "The true definition of a weed is just a plant out of place. When you talk about technical definitions of weeds, anytime we call something a noxious weed, typically they are tough enough and aggressive enough out there on the landscape that various states have classified them as noxious and they are very difficult to get rid of."

Mark Schwarzländer, is a University of Idaho CALS professor of entomology and biological control of weeds partnered with the USDA Forest Service's Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team to produce a book entitled "Biological Control of Weeds: A World Catalogue of Agents and Their Target Weeds". Weed biocontrol agents Include – fungi, mites, insects and nematodes. In many cases, the insects or other biocontrol agents are imported from the areas where the invasive weeds originated, such as Europe and Asia. In other, less common cases, native organisms have been moved around within their native ranges to control weeds. There is also the use of bioherbicides, disease-causing organisms sprayed on weeds to control them, much like chemical herbicides.

Dr. Schwarzländer is working with researchers in Russia studying a beetle that damages the stems of skeletonweed which was first reported in 1938 near Spokane. Since then it has spread to California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, crowding out native plants and damaging livestock grazing and wildlife habitat.

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