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Rehabilitating Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) Infested Rangeland Using a Single-Entry Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Roger L. Sheley ,
Brett S. Bingham  and
Kirk W. Davies
Roger L. Sheley*
Affiliation:
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Burns, OR 97720
Brett S. Bingham
Affiliation:
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Burns, OR 97720
Kirk W. Davies
Affiliation:
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Burns, OR 97720
*
Corresponding author's Email: roger.sheley@oregonstate.edu
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Abstract

The need for practical revegetation strategies for managing medusahead-infested rangeland is substantial and unmet. Our objective was to test the potential for using the single-entry approach (simultaneous application of herbicide and seed with one entry) developed for other invasive-weed infested systems for revegetating medusahead-infested rangeland. Since areas infested with medusahead are frequently burned and burning may help control medusahead and provide a more suitable seedbed for desired species, we also tested the single-entry approach in conjunction with burning. Our primary hypotheses were that (1) the combination of imazapic and seeding would provide best establishment of desired species and (2) burning would enhance the efficacy of imazapic on medusahead and enhance seedling establishment. Treatments included three seeding rates (none, 13.2, or 25.0 kg ha−1 of an even mixture of all species), two herbicides (0 and 52 g a.i. ha−1 imazapic; with and without), and two burning regimes (burned, not burned) applied mid-October 2006 on two sites. In late July, 2008 through 2010, plant density and biomass were sampled. We found that the simultaneous application of imazapic and seeding resulted in establishment of desired species where they were absent. Imazapic application without seeding increased perennial bunchgrass density where enough residual plants existed before treatment. Burning tended to improve the control of medusahead with imazapic and promoted desired species. Even though follow-up treatments may be necessary, applying imazapic and seeding in a single-entry approach may provide a more practical initial revegetation strategy than multi-entry approaches on rangeland devoid of desired residual species. This procedure should reduce the costs of treatment application and make revegetating annual grass-infested rangeland more affordable.

Keywords

Imazapicmedusahead, Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevskibunchgrass, e.g. bluebunch wheatgrass, (Pseudoroegneria spicata (Pursh.) A. Löve ssp. spicataTaeniatherum caput-medusaesingle-entryrevegetationannual grassesinvasive plants
Type
Weed Management
Information
Weed Science , Volume 60 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 612 - 617
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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