- Author: Thomas Jabusch
- Posted by: Guy B Kyser
Arundo donax is devastating to riparian habitat and becoming increasingly widespread in the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta. To counter this growing problem, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (Delta Conservancy) envisions a delta-wide, long-term Arundo Control and Restoration Program to treat Arundo infestations and restore native vegetation to improve habitat along Delta waterways.
Since 2014, the Delta Conservancy has led a pilot project controlling Arundo and restoring riparian forest habitat in the Cache Slough Complex, funded by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), and partnered with the Solano Resource Conservation District (SRCD) and Sonoma Ecology Center (SEC). As part of the Delta...
- Author: Thomas Getts
There was a post written a few months ago by Rebecca Ozeran entitled “A Tale of Two Grasses,” describing her experiences with cheatgrass and contrasting its characteristics with another invasive annual, medusahead. It was an excellently written blog, and I encourage you to check it out!
http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=23889
As I rode my bike through a haze of smoke this morning, I decided it would be appropriate to describe the impacts I see this invasive annual having up in the northeastern corner of the state, because it is just about everywhere! (And I have some cool fire photos to share…) Cheatgrass...
- Author: Guy B Kyser
Elise Gornish, Josh Davy, Travis Bean, and I are testing the use of sheep for management of late-season invasive annual grasses. This trial is taking place at five sites at the Hopland Research and Extension Center – two with barb goatgrass, two with medusahead, and one mixed.
Treatments include grazing at boot stage (32 sheep-days on 324 m2), revegetation with native spp vs forage spp, and treatment with low or high rates of glyphosate at tillering, boot stage, and heading. The main plots are 18 m x 36 m including an 18 x 18 grazing enclosure and are replicated three times at each site. All treatments are crossed, for a total of 48 subplots in each main plot.
Grazing was conducted from mid-April to...
- Author: Guy B Kyser
There is already a wall on our southern border, apparently, made of arundo (giant cane). This NY Times feature discusses US - Mexico cooperation in tackling the giant grass. Great pictures, too.
Arundo is also a big deal in California. Locally, it is one of the target species in the Delta Regional Areawide Aquatic Weed Project.
- Author: Elise S Gornish
Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) is an invasive annual winter grass that currently infests 17 western US states, causing massive economic and environmental damage. One of the biggest challenges associated with Medusahead control is providing access of the latest relevant research describing field trial outcomes to stakeholders such as land managers and practitioners who typically do not utilize peer-reviewed literature. To address this need, several members of UC Cooperative Extension (Elise Gornish, Restoration Specialist; Theresa Bechetti, Farm Advisor; and Josh Davy, Livestock Advisor) developed a presentation (Power Point slides + notes) that anyone can use to teach clientele about the history and current...
