- Author: Guy B Kyser
- Author: Jeff Null
Solano Irrigation District (SID) delivers water to 37,000 acres of farmland through an extensive network oflined canals, pipelines, and unlined irrigation and drainage canals. The unlined canals are typically drained at the end of the water delivery season in October and remain dry until spring. During dewatering, winter annual weeds can germinate in the unlined canals and grow until the canals are refilled with water. During the irrigation season, the weedy leftovers clog up control gates, meters, and irrigation equipment. To minimize flow reductions and equipment interference, SID must manage winter weeds through mechanical removal or herbicide application.
Mechanical weed removal is expensive and requires specialized...
- Author: Guy B Kyser
The Aquatic Plant Management Society (APMS) is calling for papers for the 56th Annual Meeting, July 17-20, 2016, at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, MI. Both oral and poster presentations are solicited for original research on the biology or ecology of aquatic and wetland plants, control methods (biological, chemical, cultural, mechanical) for invasive, exotic or nuisance plant or alga species, and restoration projects involving wetland or aquatic plants and algae.
Student presentations are especially encouraged and prizes will be awarded!
- Author: Guy B Kyser
- Author: John Madsen
In summer 2015, USDA-ARS and UC Davis Dept of Plant Sciences set up a water hyacinth control study with California Department of Boating & Waterways. The goal of the study was to determine the best of several different surfactants to pair with an aquatic-use formulation of glyphosate.
Aquatic weed trials are tricky compared to terrestrial trials, because the test sites are three-dimensional and they move around. In addition, water hyacinth is free-floating. In order to establish secure test plots, we built floating 1-m2 quadrats out of PVC pipe, swim noodles, and construction fencing.
On 31 July, we anchored the quadrats in open water within a sunken island in the Sacramento delta. Quadrats were...
- Author: Joe DiTomaso
- Author: Tom Barr
Aquatic weed propagules pose a serious long-term management problem. Curlyleaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus) produces numerous asexual propagules that make traditional management difficult. We initially compared the effect of three benthic barrier materials (jute, polyethylene and rubber) on the control of curlyleaf pondweed turions (see Fig. 1 for example of bottom barriers) in both laboratory bench studies and studies using larger mesocosms. After the bottom barriers covered the turions for eight weeks we then determined the viability of the turions by allowing them to sprout. Our results showed that the jute and polyethylene did not give any control of curlyleaf pondweed sprouting, but the rubber barrier, which blocks both...
- Author: Guy B Kyser
Joe DiTomaso and I are supposed to monitor the effectiveness of a hydrilla treatment in a pond near Marysville. I usually work on rangeland, where things stay put - the plants don't float away, and the equipment doesn't sink out of sight. How are we going to do this?
- Here are some rough dimensions of the pond. It is surrounded by dense stands of willow and cattail.
- We'll set T-posts at A, A', B, B', etc. so that we have as many permanent transects as we want. It's OK to set the posts on dry land, outside of the willows and cattail.
- When we're sampling, we run this cheap polypropylene rope (it floats) between A and A'. We have nylon twine tied at every 2 meters,...
