Natural Areas Weed Management Certification Training IFAS Short Course 2018 Presented by Susan Haddock, UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County Presentation by Mary Beth Henry UF/IFAS Extension Polk County Material provided by Ken Langeland and Jeff Hutchinson UF/IFAS Agronomy Department Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants Disclaimer: • The use of trade names in this presentation is solely for the purpose of providing specific information. UF/IFAS does not guarantee or warranty the products named, and references to them in this publication does not signify our approval to the exclusion of other products of suitable composition. • Pesticide users must review and comply with all conditions set forth in the pesticide label. Core Training Natural Areas Certification Over half of Florida’s land area is in agriculture or urban land uses and natural habitats are continually being lost. Natural areas are protected in > 10 million acres of conservation lands in Florida. Invasive Plant Species Nonnative (exotic) species that form self- sustaining expanding, populations within natural plant communities. NOTE: 1,300 of 4,500 plant species in Florida are nonnative (31%) Brazilian pepper Weeds vs. Invasive Plants ? Invasive Plant or Weed •Invasive Plant: •Weed: Spreads beyond A plant growing where intended area and is not wanted (yards, invades natural areas golf courses, etc.) Displaces native Does not disrupt vegetative and alters natural processes natural communities Why the Concern? • Competition with native plants – Water – Nutrients – Space • Alter hydrology • Alter fire ecology • Hybridize with native species What Plants Are Invasive Prohibited – Legislative Authority ✓USDA - Federal Noxious Weed List ✓FL DACS - Florida Noxious Weed List ✓FL DEP - Prohibited Aquatic Plant List ✓Local Ordinances No statutory authority – updated every 2 years ✓FLEPPC List of Invasive Species (FL Exotic Pest Plant Council) Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council List of Invasive Plants Category I - Invasive exotics that are altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives. This definition does not rely on the economic severity or geographic range of the problem, but on the documented ecological damage caused. Ex. Melaleuca, Brazilian pepper, Australian pine, OWCF, shoebutton ardisia and others. Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council List of Invasive Plants Category II - Invasive exotics that have increased in abundance or frequency but have not yet altered Florida plant communities to the extent shown by Category I species. These species may become ranked Category I, if ecological damage is demonstrated. Ex. Guinea grass, castor bean, queen palm, and wedelia and others. Questions Regarding a Specific Plant – DEP/FWC Regional Biologists or County Agricultural Extension Agent Questions Regarding the ID of a Plant and Record a New Weed Infestation Contact any major herbarium at a Florida University (UF, USF, UM, FSU) Questions Regarding Listed Species - Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) maintains a list of endangered plants and animals for each county in Florida. Land managers, natural resource specialists, invasive plant technicians, and biologists should become familiar with the non-native plant species in this book. Know: characteristics of some of the most invasive plants Ex. leaves, fruits, growth habit, bark, etc. Catclaw mimosa Old World Climbing Fern Coral ardisia Melaleuca Shoebutton ardisia Natal grass Camphor tree Cogan grass White yam Kudzu Air potato vine Mexican petunia Lantana Brazilian pepper Glossy privet Wetland nightshade Gold coast jasmine Tropical soda apple Japanese Climbing Fern Chinese tallow tree Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_leaf_morphology#/media/File:Leaf_morphology.svg Catclaw mimosa Mimosa pigra • Sprawling thicket forming shrub • Hairy stems with prickles • Alternate, twice compound leaves • Sensitive to touch • Small mauve to pink flowers (.5” across) • Brown-bristy, segmented, flat pod (3” X .5”) Coral ardisia Ardisia crenata • Evergree, multi- stemmed shrub to 6’ tall • Alternate, dark greenwaxy leaves with distinct scalloped margin • White to pink flowers, stalked in clusters in leaf axis • Bright red, spherical fruit Shoebutton ardisia Ardisia elliptica • Evergreen shrub or small tree to 17’ tall • Smooth stems, new foliage often reddish • Alternate leaves, oblong to oval shaped with entire margins up to 8” long • Flowerrs in axillary clusters • Round fruit, turns from red to black when ripe Camphor tree Cinnamomum camphora • Evergreen tree to 65’ • Twiggs grren or reddish green • Cut stems and bruised leaves give off strong camphor odor • Greenish-white to cream flowers in loose panicles • Small black drupes Winged yam/White yam Dioscorea alata • Vigorously twining herbaceous vine with stems up to 30’, from massive underground tubers • Internodes square with corners compressed into wings • Long petioled opposite leaves • Small flowers in leaf axils • 3-parted capsule Air potato Dioscorea bulbifera • Vigorously twining herbaceous vine up to 66 + feet • Internodes round • Small or absent underground tubers • Aerial, usually round tubers in leaf axis • Small fragrant flower in leaf axis Lantana (Shrub verbena) Lantana camara • Multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub to 6’ • Square stems, bristly hairs, small prickles • Opposite stalked leaves with blunt-toothed margins, hairy, up to 6” long • Small multi-colored flowers in stalked, dense, flat topped clusters Glossy privet Ligustrum lucidum • Evergreen shrub or tree to 16-33’ • Dense, round crown • Smooth twigs with corky pits • Opposite, simple, leathery, ovate to elliptic leaves (6 X 2”) • Translucent midvein when held to light Gold coast jasmine Jasminum dichotomum • Evergreen scrambling shrub or woody climber to 8’ • Opposite, oval to oblong, glossy, leathery leaves (2-4” long), short pointed tips • White clustered flowers at leaf axis Japanese climbing fern Lygodium japonicum • Fern with climbing, twining fronds to 90’ long • Fronds are compound, triangular in shape up to 8” • Stems are wiry and green, black or orange forming dense mats • Leaflets are lobed, stalked, with terminal lobes dissected Old world climbing fern Lygodium microphyllum • Fern with dark brown wiry rhizomes • Climbing twining fronds to 90’ • Leaflets ususally unlobed, smooth on undersides, stalked, leaving wiry stalks when detached Old World Climbing Fern Japanese Climbing Fern Once Compound (2-pinnate) Twice Compound (3-pinnate) Melaleuca Melaleuca quinquenervia • Evergreen tree with a slender crown • Bark soft, whitish, many-layered, peeling • Leaves alternate, simple, grayish-green, narrow lance shaped, 4” long • Smell of camphor when crushed Natal grass Rhynchelytrum repens • Perennial grass with smooth, erect slender stems to 3’ forming loose open tufts • Short lived • Leaves and stems pale green with purple blotches • Inflorescence loose, open, terminal to 8”, pink to purple Cogan grass Imperata cylindrica • Perennial grass with loose open tufts • Grows from stout, extensively creeping rhizomes with sharp pointed tips • Leaves narrow, erect, pubescent at base, flat and glabrous above • Flowers plume like silky panicle to 8” Kudzu Pueraria montana • Semi-woody perennial vine, high climbing, trailing to 65’ • Tuberous roots • Rope-like dark, hairy stems to 4” or more diameter • Leaves alternate, with 3 leaflets, hairy margins entire or deeply lobed Mexican petunia Ruellia tweediana • Perennial herb to 3’ with one to many stemsthat are woody at the base • Leaves dark green, oppositie, lance shaped, to 1x10” with long point • Flowers violet to purple Brazilian pepper Schinus terebinthifolius • Shrub or small tree with short trunk • Numerous long, arching, intertwined branches • Leaves evergreen, alternate, pinnately compound with 3-11 leaflets, when crushed smell peppery or turpintine • Bright red spherical drupe Wetland nightshade Solanum tampicense • Straggly, sprawling plant with prickly stems up to 16’ • Stem prickles are white to tan • Stems sparsely hairy • Leaves alternate with prickles Tropical soda apple Solanum viarum • Bushy, prickly perennial to 6’ • Stems armed with broad- based, straight or downward pointing prickles • Leaves alternate and also prickly • Fruit green when immature, dull yellow when ripe Chinese tallow Sapium sebiferum • Deciduous tree to 52’ with milky sap • Leaves alternate, entire, rhombic to ovate, 1-2.5” wide • Petioles long and slender with 2 glands at apex Integrated Pest Management (IPM) • The coordinated use of multifaceted pest and environmental information with available pest control methods to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment. What IPM is/is not: – Use of “least toxic pesticides” – Minimum use of synthetic pesticides – Maximum use of biological controls – Alternation of control methods Six Methods to Control Invasive Plants 1. Prevention – quarantine 2. Cultural – public education, regulation 3. Habitat Manipulation – prescribed burns, water level manipulation 4. Physical Removal – Manual or Mechanized 5. Biological – insects or disease 6. Herbicides – selectively remove invasive plant species with minimal disturbance to leaf litter & soil; minimize damage to nontarget native plant species Managing Invasive Plants (6 methods) Mechanical Manual Habitat manipulation Biological Biological control - Examples: Melaleuca – Melaleuca