Control & Demonstration Project on Japanese Climbing Fern and Cogongrass

USDA Forest Service

Natural resource land managers and landowners face increasing pressures from exotic invasive plants which impact land use and resource productivity. In Georgia, two rapidly spreading invasive plants, cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.) and Japanese climbing fern (Lygodium japonicum (Thunb. ex Murr.) Sw.), are increasing in occurrence. Successful intervention to control existing infestations and prevent spread requires effective control options. This project will demonstrate the effectiveness of several forestry herbicides on the control of cogongrass and Japanese climbing fern relative to impacts on native non-target vegetation and develop control/demonstration areas for training/outreach programs. Herbicides to be evaluated include Escort (metsulfuron), Milestone (aminopyralid), Garlon (triclopyr), Arsenal (imazapyr), and glyphosate.

Japanese climbing fern is a rapidly expanding problem in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions of the Southeast. Initial infestations often begin within riparian buffers and then spread into adjacent stands. Control of initial infestations along these buffers would allow early intervention and control when the species is first detected. This project will serve to treat initial infestations and provide an evaluation of herbicide effectiveness and impacts on desirable native vegetation within the treatment areas. These control/demonstration sites will be utilized for training of foresters, other natural resource managers and landowners. The climbing fern project will focus on tracts in the Coastal Plain of Georgia where Japanese climbing fern is starting to invade along riparian zones. The climbing fern infestations are developing along streamsides & into riparian buffers in these tracts, and the project would focus on direct treatment of climbing fern in streamside management zones (SMZs). The SMZs would be mapped to determine the total area to be treated on each tract.

Cogongrass infestations within Georgia are at relatively low levels as compared to surrounding states, but pressure is increasing as this aggressive grass is becoming more widely distributed in the state each year. With the ability to spread in open ground to mature forests, it impacts a wide array of sites. A control/demonstration site will be established in Seminole County Georgia on a relatively large infestation that will allow installation of side-by-side comparison plots to show effects of herbicide and surfactant selection and application.

The project will require two growing seasons and results will be presented at a regional meeting and published. The control/demonstration sites will be used to provide training to managers and landowners on effective control options.