• Introduction
• Evaluating the potential for natural recovery
  • Burn severity & plant survival
  • Noxious weed cover & survival
• Revegetating with competitive plants
  • When revegetation is necessary
  • Formulating a Seed Mix
  • Things to consider
• Establishing competitive plants
• Managing competitive plants
• Integrated Weed Management
• Preventing noxious weeds
• Eradicating small weed patches
• Managing large weed infestations
  • Mechanical control
  • Chemical control
    • Timing & placement
  • Cultural control
  • Biological control
• Monitoring & Evaluation
• Developing a burned-area IWM plan
• Summary
• Sources and Credits
• Additional Resources
• Interactive Exercises

Rangeland Weed Management - Managing LARGE weed infestations

Large infestations require an IWM plan. Such a plan should prevent or greatly limit seed dispersal while moving toward the reestablishment of a healthy plant community. Successfully dealing with large infestations requires the use of many management methods. Relying on a single method frequently results in failure.

No method or combination of methods can achieve eradication for large weed infestations. However, containment (managing infestation perimeters) or control (managing entire populations) are effective in preventing or greatly limiting seed dispersal into adjacent areas. Large infestations should be managed toward reestablishing healthy plant communities. This process begins with shifting the competitive balance from the infestation to the desired plants through revegetation after the infestation has been successfully weakened by:

• Mechanical controls, such as mowing
• Chemical controls, such as herbicide treatments
• Cultural controls, such as grazing and encouraging the growth of desired vegetation; and
• Biological controls, such as weed-damaging insects.