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Ecology in the management of Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Anthony C. Grice
Anthony C. Grice*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Tropical Agriculture, Private Bag, P.O. Aitkenvale, Queensland, Australia
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Abstract

Strategies for controlling invasive plants in northern Australian ecosystems must be designed to use limited resources. This paper examines the potential contribution of ecology to develop management strategies for Indian jujube, an invasive shrub in northern Australian tropical woodlands. Its fleshy fruits are dispersed by a variety of birds and mammals. Domestic cattle are the major dispersal vector, whose movements can be controlled at critical times to minimize the risk of new infestations. Containment of Indian jujube must include avoiding cattle movement from infested to weed-free paddocks and from infested to weed-free areas. The species has a capacity to sprout following topkill due to fire or mechanical treatment. This means that current options for effectively treating established plants are limited to the application of herbicides and the more expensive mechanical techniques. In single paddocks, concentrating limited resources on large reproductive plants may be more effective than concentrating on plants spatially peripheral to an infestation. At the property level, the first priority should be to prevent weed-free paddocks from becoming infested, the second should be to minimize increases in lightly infested paddocks, and the third to treat heavily infested paddocks that are major potential sources of new infestations. At the regional level, distributional outliers become important; their control may significantly reduce the length of the front from which local range expansion will occur.

Keywords

Indian jujube, Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.Dispersalphenologyseed production
Type
Weed Management
Information
Weed Science , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , August 1998 , pp. 467 - 474
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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