Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:49:57.395Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mowing Any Time after Midsummer Can Manage Japanese Stiltgrass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Angela L. Shelton
Angela L. Shelton*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405
*
E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Japanese stiltgrass is one of the most aggressive, rapidly spreading invasive plants in the eastern United States. Management guidelines state that mowing can help manage Japanese stiltgrass but that mowing is most effective when done late in the season after the plants begin to flower and before they set seed. In this study, I tested the effectiveness of mowing at three different times between mid-June and early September in 2009 and 2010, as well as mowing twice in 1 yr and for two consecutive years. The effectiveness of mowing Japanese stiltgrass was determined by measuring percentage of cover, biomass, seed production, and the number of stems in the summer following mowing. All mowing treatments significantly reduced percentage of cover, biomass, seed production, and the number of Japanese stiltgrass stems the following year. In 2009, all of the mowing treatments significantly reduced biomass, percentage of cover, and seed production. The latest mow, at the end of August, resulted in a slightly greater reduction of cleistogamous seeds. In 2010, the earliest mowing treatment, in mid-June, did not reduce cover and biomass as much as the other mowing treatments. Overall, these results suggest that mowing can be an effective control method for Japanese stiltgrass and that mowing any time after June should be effectively equivalent, although later mowing may provide some marginal advantage.

Keywords

Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus var. imberbe (Nees) HondaMowingmechanical controlinvasive plantmanagement
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 209 - 216
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

Adams, S. N. and Engelhardt, K. A. M. 2009. Diversity declines in Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stiltgrass) patches. Biol. Conserv. 142:1003–1010.Google Scholar
Barden, L. S. 1987. Invasion of Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae), an exotic, annual, shade-tolerant, C-4 grass, into a North Carolina floodplain. Am. Midl. Nat. 118:40–45.Google Scholar
Brewer, J. 2011. Per capita community-level effects of an invasive grass, Microstegium vimineum, on vegetation in mesic forests in northern Mississippi (USA). Biol. Invasions 13:701–715.Google Scholar
Cheplick, G. P. 2006. A modular approach to biomass allocation in an invasive annual (Microstegium vimineum; Poaceae). Am. J. Bot. 93:539–545.Google Scholar
Cheplick, G. P. 2007. Plasticity of chasmogamous and cleistogamous reproductive allocation in grasses. Aliso 23:286–294.Google Scholar
Cheplick, G. P. 2010. Limits to local spatial spread in a highly invasive annual grass (Microstegium vimineum). Biol. Invasions 12:1759–1771.Google Scholar
Derr, J. F. 2004. Introduction to Japanese stiltgrass biology and implications for control programs. Proc. Northeast. Weed Sci. Soc. 58:166–167.Google Scholar
Emery, S. M., Uwimbabazi, J., and Flory, S. L. 2011. Fire intensity effects on seed germination of native and invasive Eastern deciduous forest understory plants. Forest Ecol. Manag. 261:1401–1408.Google Scholar
Fairbrothers, D. E. and Gray, J. R. 1972. Microstegium vimineum (Trin) A. Camus (Gramineae) in United States. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 99:97–100.Google Scholar
Flory, S. and Clay, K. 2010. Non-native grass invasion suppresses forest succession. Oecologia 164:1029–1038.Google Scholar
Flory, S. L. 2010. Management of Microstegium vimineum invasions and recovery of resident plant communities. Restor. Ecol. 18:103–112.Google Scholar
Flory, S. L. and Clay, K. 2009. Invasive plant removal method affects native community diversity responses. J. Appl. Ecol. 4:434–442.Google Scholar
Flory, S. L. and Lewis, J. 2009. Non-chemical methods for managing Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum). Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 2:301–308.Google Scholar
Gover, A. E., Johnson, J. M., and Kuhns, L. J. 2003. Pre-and postemergence control comparisons for Japanese stiltgrass. Proc. Northeast. Weed Sci. Soc. 57:28–33.Google Scholar
Hunt, D. M. and Zaremba, R. E. 1992. The northeastward spread of Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae) into New York and adjacent states. Rhodora 94:167–170.Google Scholar
Judge, C. A. 2005. Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum): Population dynamics and management for restoration of native plant communities. Ph.D dissertation. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University, 167 p.Google Scholar
Malone, C. R. 1967. A rapid method for enumeration of viable seeds in soil. Weeds 15:381–382.Google Scholar
Oswalt, C. M., Oswalt, S. N., and Clatterbuck, W. K. 2007. Effects of Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus on native woody species density and diversity in a productive mixed-hardwood forest in Tennessee. Forest Ecol. Manag. 242:727–732.Google Scholar
Richardson, R. 2011. Mechanical Control of Japanese Stiltgrass And Stiltgrass Management Tips For Woodland Owners. Crummies Creek Demonstration Forest. http://www.forestguild.org/ecological_forestry/Stiltgrass_management_2011.pdf. Accessed: June 27, 2011.Google Scholar
Shelton, A. L. 2011. Predicting Spread of Invasive Species. IU Research and Teaching Preserve. http://www.indiana.edu/~preserve/InvasiveSpread/home.html. Accessed December 6, 2011.Google Scholar
Swearingen, J. M. 2009. Fact Sheet: Japanese Stiltgrass. http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/mivi1.htm. Accessed Dec. 6, 2011.Google Scholar
Tu, M. 2000. Element Stewardship Abstract for Microstegium vimineum . http://www.imapinvasives.org/GIST/ESA/esapages/micrvimi.html. Accessed: December 6, 2011.Google Scholar
[USDA NRCS] U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2009. The PLANTS Database. http://plants.usda.gov. Accessed: June 11, 2009.Google Scholar