- Author: Christopher J Mcdonald
Roadsides are often a very difficult place to control weeds. Weeds thrive on roadsides and roadsides and rights of way are obviously long and narrow. Weeds along the edge of the shoulder need to be cleared to reduce fuels to prevent wildfires, and to ensure safety for drivers and also so that weeds do not damage the road surface or shoulder structure.
Herbicide applications on roadsides are often conducted at large scales where several acres to many acres are treated in a day. Roadside equipment can also be highly specialized ensuring large stretches of public roads and adjacent lands are better protected.
Herbicide applications on roadsides should be calibrated to ensure the amount of herbicide applied is the amount...
- Author: Justin Valliere
Wildfire is an important ecological process that shapes patterns of plant diversity in many Mediterranean ecosystems, including California. In coastal sage scrub and chaparral, for example, plant diversity is often highest in the growing seasons immediately after a site burns, with many fire-following species emerging from the soil seed bank and bud bank. This often results in spectacular displays of wildflowers when sufficient rainfall occurs following fire.
In a recent study published in Global Change Biology, however, we found that persistence of these unique, fire-following wildflowers may be threatened by invasive plant species as well as nitrogen...
- Author: Aaron Becerra-Alvarez
- Author: Sarah Lorraine Marsh
- Author: Kassim Al-Khatib
- Posted by: Gale Perez
A new herbicide for early-season weed control in water-seeded rice will be available soon. The herbicide active ingredient (a.i.) is pyraclonil, which will be trademarked as Zembu™ (1.8% a.i.) by Nichino, America Inc. The mode of action is a protox porphyrinogen (PPO)-inhibitor or Group 14. This herbicide is formulated as a granule and will be used as a residual preemergence for application on the day of seeding onto flooded fields. The use rate is 14.9 lbs ac-1 applied by air. While this herbicide is not a new mode of action for water-seeded rice, it is a new mode of action for early-season residual weed control. Pyraclonil is widely used for weed control in paddy fields worldwide and is the most commonly utilized...
- Author: Justin Valliere
- Author: Jennifer Funk
A recent article in the LA Times argued that California native plants should not be the only option for drought-tolerant landscaping. Missing from this perspective was a discussion of the severe threat that many non-native plants pose to California's unique and biodiverse ecosystems including reduced native plant establishment and increased fire risk. Additionally, we know that the nursery trade plays an important role in driving these invasions. For example, a recent study by researchers at the...
- Author: Whitney B Brim-Deforest
- Editor: Taiyu Guan
- Editor: Consuelo B Baez Vega
- Posted by: Gale Perez
“White Water Fire” (Bergia capensis)
From Butte County Agricultural Commissioner's office:
A weed sample collected in Butte County on September 19, 2023, was submitted to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) botany lab for identification. The sample was identified as “White Water Fire” (Bergia capensis). Notes from the CDFA lab indicated that this is the first record of the plant in California and possibly the USA. CDFA has assigned a temporary Q rating, pending California pest rating proposal and...
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