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Rangeland
Weed Management - Summary
Fire-produced
disturbances directly favor colonization of new and survived noxious
weeds. To prevent or mitigate establishment of noxious weeds, and
to establish or maintain healthy plant communities, burned and adjacent
areas should be managed under a burned-area IWM plan.
When desired
plant cover is inadequate, the first step of many burned-area IWM
plans is revegetation. Revegetation, when needed, can mitigate
weed invasion and reestablishment by introducing desired plants
that compete with weeds for resources.
A burned-area
IWM plan incorporates land management goals and weed management
objectives.Educational programs and prevention strategies address
weed identification and techniques to limit weed spread. An IWM
plan identifies high-quality (that is, areas with high desired plant
cover) and valued areas and protects them from weed invasion and
establishment - a key component in sustainable weed management.
To forestall larger infestations, the IWM plan will guide identification
and eradication of small weed patches.
Large infestations
can persist and are very difficult and expensive to manage, and
their development should be prevented in all cases. If infestations
have developed, managers should work toward reestablishing healthy
plant communities by shifting the competitive balance from the weeds
to the desired vegetation. This can be accomplished by reducing
the competitive vigor of the infestation through combinations of
mechanical, chemical, cultural (including revegetation) or biological
methods - or all these methods in concert.
Frequent monitoring of
the site and annual evaluations will determine the adequacy of the
plan. Comparing data from one year to the next allows the manager
to spot trends and patterns, and to identify and make changes needed
to attain land management goals.
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