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Repeated Selective Cutting Controls Neotropical Bracken (Pteridium arachnoideum) and Restores Abandoned Pastures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Karla Aguilar-Dorantes ,
Klaus Mehltreter ,
Heike Vibrans ,
Martin Mata-Rosas  and
Valentín A. Esqueda-Esquivel
Karla Aguilar-Dorantes
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Ecología Funcional, Carretera antigua a Coatepec no. 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, C.P. 91070, Mexico
Klaus Mehltreter*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Ecología Funcional, Carretera antigua a Coatepec no. 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, C.P. 91070, Mexico
Heike Vibrans
Affiliation:
Colegio de Postgraduados, Campus Montecillo, Postgrado en Botánica, km 36.5 carretera México-Texcoco, Montecillo, Texcoco, Edo. de México, C.P. 56230, Mexico
Martin Mata-Rosas
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Manejo Biotecnológico de Recursos, Carretera antigua a Coatepec no. 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, C.P. 91070, Mexico
Valentín A. Esqueda-Esquivel
Affiliation:
INIFAP, Campo Experimental Cotaxtla, km 34.5 carretera Federal Veracruz-Córdoba, Medellín de Bravo, Veracruz, C.P. 94279, Mexico
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Neotropical bracken fern invades disturbed forests and burned and abandoned pastures in Latin America, inhibiting the growth of associated vegetation and altering community structure. Cutting of all aboveground vegetation every 6 to 12 mo has proven to be inefficient as a control method. We studied the impact of selective cutting of bracken every 2 mo, shading, and a combination of cutting + shading during 14 mo in a bracken-dominated, abandoned pasture in Veracruz, Mexico. At the end of the experiment, cutting with or without shading drastically reduced bracken cover from >90% to less than 1%, decreased leaf number from 18 to fewer than two leaves per m2, and depleted bracken leaf biomass. The significant reduction of bracken was correlated with a significant 3.9- to 5.7-fold increase in richness of other plant species. Cutting without shading was the only treatment that significantly reduced rhizome biomass to less than 62% of control plots, whereas cutting + shading was the only treatment to promote a significant increase in both cover and shoot biomass of successional plant species. Selective cutting of P. arachnoideum repeated every 2 mo was more successful than nonselective cuttings repeated at longer intervals, because it removed newly emerging leaves before their complete expansion and supported the recovery and reestablishment of other plant species, which may help to control bracken. Although costs for the first year of selective cutting were twice as much as for nonselective cutting, it may prove less expensive and more efficient than nonselective cutting in the long term.

Keywords

Bracken, Pteridium spp.Neotropical bracken fern, Pteridium arachnoideum (Kaulf.) MaxonDennstaedtiaceaefernsinvasive plantsmechanical weed controlrestorationrhizomeshading
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 580 - 589
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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