Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T04:19:42.269Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Impacts of Prescribed Fire, Glyphosate, and Seeding on Cogongrass, Species Richness, and Species Diversity in Longleaf Pine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen F. Enloe ,
Nancy J. Loewenstein ,
David W. Held ,
Lori Eckhardt  and
Dwight K. Lauer
Stephen F. Enloe*
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Soils, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849
Nancy J. Loewenstein
Affiliation:
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849
David W. Held
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849
Lori Eckhardt
Affiliation:
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849
Dwight K. Lauer
Affiliation:
Silvics Analytic, Wingate, NC 28174
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] is a warm-season, rhizomatous grass native to southeast Asia that has invaded thousands of hectares in the southeastern United States. Its negative impacts on pine forests have been well documented, and aggressive control is widely recommended. Although repeated herbicide treatments are effective for suppression, integrated strategies of prescribed burning coupled with herbicide treatment and revegetation are lacking in pine systems. In particular, longleaf pine forests, which are typically open, fire-dependent, communities, are highly susceptible to cogongrass, which is a pyrogenic species. To address management goals for cogongrass control and herbaceous restoration in longleaf pine forests better, field studies were conducted in southwestern Alabama from 2010 to 2012. Two longleaf pine forests with near-monotypic stands of cogongrass in the understory were selected for study. Treatments included combinations of winter prescribed fire, spring and fall glyphosate herbicide treatments, and seeding a mix of native, herbaceous species. Data were collected for three growing seasons following study initiation, and included seasonal herbaceous species cover and final cogongrass shoot and rhizome biomass. Species richness and diversity were calculated and analyzed to ascertain treatment effects over the duration of the study. Burning slightly improved cogongrass control with glyphosate, but had no effect on total cover, species richness, or species diversity. Three glyphosate treatments reduced total vegetative cover and nearly eliminated cogongrass cover, shoot, and rhizome biomass. Glyphosate and glyphosate + seeding also increased herbaceous species richness and diversity. However, aboveground productivity in treated plots was significantly lower than productivity in the untreated control, which was almost exclusively cogongrass. These studies indicate that glyphosate and integrated strategies utilizing glyphosate and seeding are very useful for cogongrass management and increasing herbaceous species richness and diversity in longleaf pine.

Keywords

Glyphosatecogongrass, Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.longleaf pine, Pinus palustris Mill.Integrated weed managementinvasive plantprescribed burningrevegetation
Type
Research
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , December 2013 , pp. 536 - 544
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Brewer, J. S. 2008. Declines in plant species richness and endemic plant species in longleaf pine savannas invaded by Imperata cylindica . Biol. Invasions 10:1257–1264.Google Scholar
Bryson, C. T. and Carter, R. 1993. Cogongrass, Imperata cylindrica, in the Unites States. Weed Technol. 7:1005–1009.Google Scholar
Chapman, H. H. 1932. Is the longleaf type a climax? Ecology 13:328–334.Google Scholar
Chikoye, D., Ekeleme, F., and Udensi, U. E. 2001. Cogongrass suppression by intercropping cover crops in corn/cassava systems. Weed Sci. 49:658–667.Google Scholar
Christensen, N. L. 1981. Fire regimes in southeastern ecosystems. Pages 112–136 in Mooney, H. A., Bonnicksen, T. M., Christensen, N. L., Lotan, J. E., and Reinsers, W. A., eds. Fire Regimes and Ecosystem Properties. Washington, DC U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service General Technical Report WO-26.Google Scholar
Collins, A. R., Jose, S., Daneshgar, P., and Ramsey, C. L. 2007. Elton's hypothesis revisited: an experimental test using cogongrass. Biol. Invasions 9:433–443.Google Scholar
Daneshgar, P. and Jose, S. 2009. Role of species identity in plant invasions: experimental test using Imperata cylindrica . Biol. Invasions 11:1431–1440.Google Scholar
Daneshgar, P., Jose, S., Ramsey, C., and Collins, A. R. 2008. Impacts of an invasive grass on the productivity of an establishing pine forest. For. Sci. 54:579–587.Google Scholar
D'Antonio, C. M. and Vitousek, P. M. 1992. Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 23:63–87.Google Scholar
Dickens, R. 1974. Cogongrass in Alabama after sixty years. Weed Sci. 22:177–179.Google Scholar
DiTomaso, J. M., Brooks, M. L., Allen, E. B., Minnich, R., Rice, P. M., and Kyser, G. B. 2006. Control of invasive weeds with prescribed burning. Weed Technol. 20:535–548.Google Scholar
Dozier, H., Gaffney, J. H., McDonald, S. K., Johnson, E. R. R. L., and Shilling, D. G. 1998. Cogongrass in the United States: history, ecology, impacts, and management. Weed Technol. 12:737–743.Google Scholar
Faircloth, W. H. 2004. Integrated Vegetation Management of Cogongrass in Alabama. Ph.D Dissertation. Auburn, AL Auburn University. 156 p.Google Scholar
Frost, C. C. 1993. Four centuries of changing landscape patterns in the longleaf pine ecosystem. Proc. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. 18:17–44.Google Scholar
Gaffney, J. F. 1996. Ecophysiological and Technological Factors Influencing the Management of Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica). Ph.D. dissertation. Gainesville, FL University of Florida. 111 p.Google Scholar
Glitzenstein, J. S., Streng, D. R., Wade, D. D., and Brubaker, J. 2001. Starting new populations of longleaf pine ground-layer plants in the outer Coastal Plain of South Carolina, USA. Nat. Areas J. 21:89–110.Google Scholar
Hedman, C. W., Grace, S. L., and King, S. E. 2000. Vegetation composition and structure of southern coastal plain forests: an ecological comparison. For. Ecol. Manag. 134:344–247.Google Scholar
Huynh, H. and Feldt, L. S. 1970. Conditions under which mean square ratios in repeated measurements designs have exact F-distributions. J. Am. Statist. Assoc. 65:1582–1589.Google Scholar
Jose, S., Cox, J., Miller, D. L., Shilling, D. G., and Merritt, S. 2002. Alien plant invasions. The story of cogongrass in southeastern forests. J. For. 100:41–44.Google Scholar
Kirkman, L. K., Mitchell, R. J., Helton, R. C., and Drew, M. B. 2001. Productivity and species richness across an environmental gradient in a fire-dependent ecosystem. Am. J. Bot. 88:2110–2128.Google Scholar
Kush, J. S., Meldahl, R. S., and Boyer, W. D. 2000. Understory plant community response to season of burn in natural longleaf pine forests. Pages 32–39 in Moser, W. K., ed. Fire and Forest Ecology: Innovative Silvicultural and Vegetation Management. Proc. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. conf. No. 21.Google Scholar
Kush, J. S., Meldahl, R. S., and Boyer, W. D. 1999. Understory plant community response after 23 years of hardwood control treatments in natural longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests. Can. J. For. Res. 29:1047–1054.Google Scholar
Lippincott, C. L. 1997. Ecological Consequences of Imperata cylindrica (cogongrass) Invasion in Florida. Ph.D Dissertation. Gainesville, FL University of Florida. 165 p.Google Scholar
Lippincott, C. L. 2000. Effects of Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv. (Cogongrass) invasion on fire regime in Florida Sandhill (USA). Nat. Areas J. 20(2):140–149.Google Scholar
MacDonald, G. E. 2004. Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica): biology, ecology and management. Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 23(5):367–380.Google Scholar
Matlack, G. R. 2002. Exotic plant species in Mississippi, USA: critical issues in management and research. Nat. Areas J. 22:241–247.Google Scholar
Minogue, P. J., Miller, J. H., and Lauer, D. K. 2012. Use of glyphosate and imazapyr for cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) management in southern pine forests. South. J. Appl. For. 36:19–25.Google Scholar
Peet, R. K. and Allard, D. J. 1993. Longleaf pine vegetation of the southern Atlantic and eastern Gulf Coast regions: a preliminary classification. Proc. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. 18:45–81.Google Scholar
Ramsey, C. L., Jose, S., Brecke, B., and Merritt, S. 2003a. Growth response of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seedlings to fertilization and herbaceous weed control in an old field in southern USA. For. Ecol. Manage. 172:281–289.Google Scholar
Ramsey, C. L., Jose, S., Miller, D. L., Cox, J., Portier, K. M., Shilling, D. G., and Merritt, S. 2003b. Cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] response to herbicide and disking on a cutover site in a mid-rotation pine plantation in southern USA. For. Ecol. Manage. 179:195–209.Google Scholar
Schelhas, J. 2011. A socioeconomic assessment of Forest Service Recovery Act projects: the Alabama Cogongrass Control Center. General Technical Report—Pacific Northwest Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2011 No. PNW-GTR-831, Pp. 5–22.Google Scholar
Seamon, G. 1998. A longleaf pine sandhill restoration in northwest Florida. Restor. Manage. Notes 16:46–50.Google Scholar
Seymour, R., Seymour, J., and Blackford, C. 2008. Six Basic Elements for a Successful Native Grass and Forb Establishment. 4th ed. Upton, KY Roundstone Native Seed, LLC. https://www.roundstoneseed.com/pdf/EstablishmentTipsBook.pdf. Accessed December 12, 2012.Google Scholar
Shannon, C. E. 1949. The mathematical theory of communication. Pages 29–125 in Shannon, C. E., and Weaver, W., eds. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana, IL University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Walker, J. and Peet, R. K. 1988. Composition and species diversity of pine–wiregrass savannas of the Green Swamp, North Carolina. Vegetatio 55:163–179.Google Scholar
Washburn, B. E., Barnes, T. G., Rhoades, C. C., and Remington, R. 2002. Using imazapic and prescribed fire to enhance native warm season grasslands in Kentucky. Nat. Areas J. 22:20–27.Google Scholar
Washburn, B. E., Barnes, T. G., and Sole, J. D. 1999. No-till establishment of native warm-season grasses in tall fescue fields: first year results indicate value of new herbicide. Ecol. Restor. 17:144–149.Google Scholar
Willard, T. R., Gaffney, J. F., and Shilling, D. G. 1997. Influence of herbicide combinations and application technology on cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) control. Weed Technol. 11:76–80.Google Scholar
Yager, L. Y., Miller, D. L., and Jones, J. 2010. Susceptibility of longleaf pine forest associations in south Mississippi to invasion by cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.]. Nat. Areas J. 30:226–232.Google Scholar