Effects of mechanical and chemical control on invasive Spartina alterniflora in the Yellow River Delta, China

Baohua Xie; Guangxuan Han; Peiyang Qiao; Baoling Mei; Qing Wang; Yingfeng Zhou; Anfeng Zhang; Weimin Song; Bo Guan

doi:10.7717/peerj.7655

Effects of mechanical and chemical control on invasive Spartina alterniflora in the Yellow River Delta, China

PeerJ. 2019 Sep 3:7:e7655. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7655. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Baohua Xie¹, Guangxuan Han¹, Peiyang Qiao^{1

2}, Baoling Mei², Qing Wang¹, Yingfeng Zhou³, Anfeng Zhang³, Weimin Song¹, Bo Guan¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, CAS, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China.
² College of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China.
³ Administration Bureau of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, Dongying, China.

Abstract

Spartina alterniflora is one of the most noxious invasive plants in China and many other regions. Exploring environmentally friendly, economic and effective techniques for controlling Spartina alterniflora is of great significance for the management of coastal wetlands. In the present study, different approaches, including mowing and waterlogging, mowing and tilling and herbicide application, were used to control Spartina alterniflora. The results suggest that the integrated approach of mowing and waterlogging could eradicate Spartina alterniflora, the herbicide haloxyfop-r-methyl could kill almost all the Spartina alterniflora, and the integrated approach of mowing and tilling at the end of the growing season was a perfect way to inhibit the germination of Spartina alterniflora in the following year. However, no matter which control approach is adopted, secondary invasion of Spartina alterniflora must be avoided. Otherwise, all the efforts will be wasted in a few years.

Keywords: Haloxyfop-r-methyl; Herbicide; Invasion; Mowing; Tilling; Waterlogging.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (41671089), the Science and Technology Service Network Initiative (KFJ-STS-ZDTP-023), and the Special Funds of National Nature Reserve (Y891061021, Y639071021). There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.