Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T02:59:22.030Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Standardized Support to Measure Biomass and Fruit Production by the Invasive Climber (Asparagus asparagoides)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Chris D. Stansbury
Affiliation:
CRC for Australian Weed Management; CSIRO Entomology, Private Bag, P.O. Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
Kathryn L. Batchelor
Affiliation:
CRC for Australian Weed Management; CSIRO Entomology, Private Bag, P.O. Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
Louise Morin
Affiliation:
CSIRO Entomology, G.P.O. Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
Tim L. Woodburn
Affiliation:
CSIRO Entomology, G.P.O. Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
John K. Scott*
Affiliation:
CRC for Australian Weed Management; CSIRO Entomology, Private Bag, P.O. Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The difficulty of monitoring growth parameters of climbing invasive plants subjected to different control options can be overcome by using standardized support structures (trellises). The utility of such support structures on aboveground biomass accumulation and fruit production was demonstrated using the invasive climber, bridal creeper in three invaded nature reserves near Perth in Western Australia. Mean above-ground plant biomass for plots provided with trellises ranged from 204 ± 38 g/m2 to 336 ± 31 g/m2, whereas it ranged from 66 ± 10 g/m2 to 118 ± 10 g/m2 in plots with no trellises. The mean number of fruits/m2 produced on shoots in plots provided with trellises ranged from 424 ± 159 to 3,787 ± 873 and was up to almost four orders of magnitude greater than the number of fruits produced on plants in plots with no trellis (ranging from 0 to 5.25 ± 7.9). The use of standardized trellises also showed that fruit volume and fruit seed number can vary significantly between sites. Standardized trellises have been installed at sites across Australia to assess the long-term impact of biological control agents introduced to manage bridal creeper.

Type
Notes
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.)

Footnotes

Current address: Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner, Level 12 St Martin's Tower, 44 St. Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.

References

Literature Cited

Adair, R. J. 1995. The threat of environmental weeds to biodiversity in Australia: a search for solutions. Pages 184201. in Bradstock, R.A., Auld, T.D., Keith, D.A., Kingsford, R.T., Lunney, D., Sivertsen, D.P. eds. Conserving Biodiversity: Threats and Solutions. Chipping Norton, New South Wales Surrey Beatty and Sons Pty Ltd.Google Scholar
Analytical Software 2000. Statistix 7 user's manual. Tallahassee, FL: Analytical Software. Pages 359.Google Scholar
Belote, R. T. and Weltzin, J. F. 2006. Interactions between two co-dominant, invasive plants in the understory of a temperate deciduous forest. Biol. Inv. 8:16291641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chalmers, A. C. and Turner, J. C. 1994. Climbing plants in relation to their supports in a stand of dry rainforest in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 114:7390.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. 1905. The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. London, UK John Murray. 208.Google Scholar
den Dubbelden, K. C. and Oosterbeek, B. 1995. The availability of external support affects allocation patterns and morphology of herbaceous climbing plants. Funct. Ecol. 9:628634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
den Dubbelden, K. C. and Verburg, R. W. 1996. Inherent allocation patterns and potential growth rates of herbaceous climbing plants. Plant and Soil 184:341347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donelly, S., Lortie, J. L., and Aarssen, L. W. 1998. Pollination in Verbascum thapsus (Scrophulariaceae): the advantage of being tall. Am. J. Bot. 85:16181625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forcella, F. 1985. Final distribution is related to rate of spread in alien weeds. Weed Res. 25:181191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gianoli, E. 2001. Lack of differential plasticity to shading of internodes and petioles with growth habit in Convolvulus arvensis (Convolvulaceae). Int. J. Plant Sci. 162:12471252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gianoli, E. 2002a. Maternal environmental effects on the phenotypic responses of the twining vine Ipomoea purpurea to support availability. Oikos 99:324330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gianoli, E. 2002b. Phenotypic responses of the twining vine Ipomoea purpurea (Convolvulaceae) to physical support availability in sun and shade. Plant Ecol. 165:2126.Google Scholar
Gianoli, E. and Molina-Montenegro, M. A. 2005. Leaf damage induces twining in a climbing plant. New Phytol. 167:385390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isnard, S., Rowe, N., and Speck, T. 2003. Growth habit and mechanical architecture of the sand dune-adapted climber Clematis flammula var. maritima L. Ann. Bot. 91:407417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kleinjan, C. A. and Edwards, P. B. 1999. A reappraisal of the identification and distribution of Asparagus asparagoides in southern Africa. S. Afr. J. Bot. 65:2331.Google Scholar
Morin, L., Batchelor, K. L., and Scott, J. K. 2006a. The biology of Australian weeds 44. Asparagus asparagoides (L). Druce. Plant Protect. Quart. 21:4662.Google Scholar
Morin, L., Neave, M., Batchelor, K. L., and Reid, A. 2006b. Biological control: a promising tool for managing bridal creeper in Australia. Plant Protect. Quart. 21:6977.Google Scholar
Panetta, F. D. 1993. A system for assessing proposed plant introductions for weed potential. Plant Protect. Quart. 8:1014.Google Scholar
Peakall, R. and Handel, S. N. 1993. Pollinators discriminate among floral heights of a sexually deceptive orchid: implications for selection. Evol. 47:16811687.Google Scholar
Puntieri, J. G. and Pysek, P. 1993. The effects of physical support and density on biomass production and size hierarchies of Galium aparine populations. Oikos 67:279284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putz, F. E. 1984. The natural history of lianas on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ecology 65:17131724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Randall, R. P. and Lloyd, S. G. 2002. Weed warning from downunder—the weed potential of selected South African plants in cultivation in California. Pages 192195. in. Proceedings of the 13th Australian Weeds Conference. Perth, Western Australia Plant Protection Society of Western Australia, Inc.Google Scholar
Raymond, K. L. 1999. Ecology of Asparagus asparagoides (Bridal Creeper), an Environmental Weed of Southern Australia. Ph.D dissertation, Clayton, Victoria, Australia Monash University. 253.Google Scholar
Schweitzer, J. A. and Larson, K. C. 1999. Greater morphological plasticity of exotic honeysuckle species may make them better invaders than native species. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 126:1523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorenson, A. E. 1981. Interactions between birds and fruit in a temperate woodland. Oecologia 50:242249.Google Scholar
Stansbury, C. 1996. Observations of birds feeding on bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides) fruits within Yanchep National Park, Western Australia. Plant Protect. Quart. 11:5960.Google Scholar
Stansbury, C. D. 1999. The Invasiveness and Biogeographical Limits of the Environmental Weeds Bridal Creeper, Asparagus asparagoides and Bridal Veil, A. declinatus, in South-Western Australia. Ph.D Dissertation: Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia University of Western Australia. 264.Google Scholar
Steinitz, B., Hagiladi, A., and Anav, D. 1992. Thigmomorphogenesis and its interaction with gravity in climbing plants of Epipremnum aureum . J. Plant Physiol. 140:571574.Google Scholar