Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:43:56.125Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pathways of Invasive Plant Spread to Alaska: III. Contaminants in Crop and Grass Seed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jeffery S. Conn
Jeffery S. Conn*
Affiliation:
Subarctic Agricultural Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 319 O'Neill Building, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: jeff.conn@ars.usda.gov
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Invasive plants disperse to new areas via numerous pathways. Study of these pathways helps to focus limited budgets toward prevention and early detection. This study examined potentially invasive seed contaminants in imported crops and grass seed as pathways for plant dispersal to Alaska. Crop and grass seed were purchased from 13 Alaska retail outlets representing 14 seed suppliers. Seed bags were sampled using federally mandated protocols and were analyzed for crop seeds that were not supposed to be included and for weed contaminants. Ninety-five weed and 36 contaminant crop taxa were found. Crop seed contained 43 weed taxa and 15 other crop species contaminants, a mean of 6.4 taxa and 3,844 contaminant seed kg−1. Grass seed samples contained 73 weed taxa and 21 crop contaminants, a mean of 3.5 contaminant species and 1,250 seeds kg−1. Two species prohibited by the Alaska seed law were found: Canada thistle was found in a single crop sample, and quackgrass was found in two grass samples. There were no significant relationships between either seed type or supplier and either the number of contaminant species or number of seeds. Labels of 33% of crop samples and 8% of grass samples claimed 0.00% weed seeds, but low (0.007% by weight, 2 species) to high (1.18% by weight, 13 species) amounts of weed contaminants were found. Importation of crop seed is a large pathway for seed movement, causing significant propagule pressure and an increased likelihood of establishment by new invasive plant populations. Prevention of spread via this pathway would be enhanced by changes to seed laws, by greater regulatory enforcement, and by including on the label, the names of all weed and contaminant crop species found in the law-required samples. Consumers could then make decisions on whether to purchase seed based on the potentially invasive species that would be planted with the desired seed.

Keywords

Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.quackgrass, Elymus repens (L.) GouldPathwaysAlaskainvasion preventioncrop seedgrass seedother crop speciesseed lawseed contaminants
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 270 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Carlson, M. L. and Shephard, M. 2007. Is the spread of non-native plants in Alaska accelerating? Pages 111–127 in Harrington, T. B., and Reichard, S. H., eds. Meeting the Challenge: Invasive Plants in Pacific Northwest Ecosystems. Portland, OR U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report PNW-GTR-694.Google Scholar
Carlson, M. L., Lapina, I. V., Shephard, M., Conn, J. S., Densmore, R., Spencer, P., Heys, J., Riley, J., and Nielsen, J. 2008. Invasiveness Ranking System for Non-Native Plants of Alaska. Juneau, AK USDA Forest Service, Region 10, R10 Technical Publication 143. 218 p.Google Scholar
Carter, T. 1998. Changes in the thermal growing season in Nordic countries during the past century and prospects for the future. Agric. Food Sci. Finl. 5:329–350.Google Scholar
Christians, N. E. 2011. Fundamentals of turfgrass management. 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ J. Wiley. 416 p.Google Scholar
Conn, J. S., Beattie, K. L., Shephard, M. A., Carlson, M. L., Lapina, I., Hebert, M., Gronquist, R., Densmore, R., and Rasy, M. 2008a. Alaska Melilotus invasions: distribution, origin and susceptibility of plant communities. Arc. Antarc. Alp. Res. 40:298–308.Google Scholar
Conn, J. S., Stockdale, C. A., and Morgan, J. C. 2008b. Characterizing pathways of invasive plant spread to Alaska: I. propagules from container-grown ornamentals. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 1:331–336.Google Scholar
Conn, J. S., Stockdale, C. A., Werdin-Pfisterer, N. R., and Morgan, J. C. 2010. Characterizing pathways of invasive plant spread to Alaska: II. Propagules from imported hay and straw. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 3:276–285.Google Scholar
Conn, J. S., Werdin-Pfisterer, N. R., and Beattie, K. L. 2011. Development of the Alaska agricultural weed flora 1981–2004: a case for prevention. Weed Res. 51:63–70.Google Scholar
Copeland, L. O. and McDonald, M. B. Seed Science and Technology. 4th ed. Norwell, MA Kluwer. 373 p.Google Scholar
D'Antonio, C., Levine, J., and Thomsen, M. 2001. Ecosystem resistance to invasion and the role of propagule supply: a California perspective. J. Mediterr. Ecol. 2:233–245.Google Scholar
Davies, K. W. and Johnson, D. D. 2011. Are we “missing the boat” on preventing the spread of invasive plants in rangeland? Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 4:166–171.Google Scholar
Densmore, R. V., Vander Meer, M. E., and Dunkle, N. G. 2000. Native plant revegetation manual for Denali National Park and Preserve. Springfield, VA U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Information and Technology Report USGS/BRD/ITR–2000-0006. 42 p.Google Scholar
Dewey, S. A. and Whitesides, R. E. 1990. Weed seed analysis from four decades of Utah small grain drillbox surveys. Proc. West. Soc. Weed Sci. 43:69.Google Scholar
Forcella, F. and Harvey, S. J. 1988. Patterns of weed migration in northwestern U.S.A. Weed Sci. 36:194–201.Google Scholar
Holt, J. S. 2004. Principles of weed management in agroecosystems and wildlands. Weed Technol. 18:1559–1562.Google Scholar
Hulten, E. 1968. Flora of Alaska and neighboring territories. Stanford, CA Stanford University Press. 1008 p.Google Scholar
Hyvonen, T., Glenitz, M., Radics, L., and Hoffman, J. 2010. Impact of climate and land use type on the distribution of Finnish casual arable weeds in Europe. Weed Res. 51:201–208.Google Scholar
Hyvonen, T. and Jalli, H. 2011. Alien species in the Finnish weed flora. Agric. Food Sci. Finl. 20:86–95.Google Scholar
Mack, R. N. 1986. Alien plant invasions into the Intermountain West: a case history. Pages 191–213 in Mooney, H. A., and Drake, J. A., eds. Ecology of Biological Invasions of North America and Hawaii. New York Springer.Google Scholar
Mack, R. N. 1991. The commercial seed trade: an early disperser of weeds in the United States. Econ. Bot. 45:257–273.Google Scholar
Mack, R. N. 2003. Global plant dispersal, naturalization and invasion: pathways, modes, and circumstances. Pages 3–30 in Ruiz, G. M., and Carlton, J. T., eds. Invasive Species Vectors and Management Strategies. Washington, DC Island.Google Scholar
Meehl, G. A., Stocker, T. F., Collins, W. D., et al. 2007. Global Climate Projections. Pages I747–845 in Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K. B., Tignor, M., and Miller, H. L., eds. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change. New York Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Michael, P. J., Owen, M. J., and Powles, S. B. 2010. Herbicide-resistant weed seeds contaminate grain sown in the Western Australia grainbelt. Weed Sci. 58:466–472.Google Scholar
Pyšek, P., Křivánek, M., and Jarošík, V. 2009. Planting intensity, residence time, and species traits determine invasion success of alien woody species. Ecology 90:2734–2744.Google Scholar
Radosevich, S. R., Holt, J. S., and Ghersa, C. M. 1997. Weed Ecology. Implications for Management. 2nd ed. New York J. Wiley. Pp. 1–6, 335–395.Google Scholar
Reichard, S. E. 1997. Prevention of invasive plant introductions on national and local levels. Pages 215–227 in Luken, J. O., and Thieret, J. W., eds. Assessment and Management of Plant Invasions. New York Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. 2008. Seed Information Database (SID). Version 7.1. http://data.kew.org/sid/. Accessed: September 20, 2011.Google Scholar
Ruiz, G. M. and Carlton, J. T. 2003. Invasion vectors: a conceptual framework for management. Pages 459–504 in Ruiz, G. M., and Carlton, J. T., eds. Invasive Species: Vectors and Management Strategies. Washington, DC Island.Google Scholar
Shimono, Y. and Konuma, A. 2008. Effects of human-mediated processes on weed species composition in internationally traded grain commodities. Weed Res. 48:10–18.Google Scholar
Spellman, B. T. 2009. Managing Reed Canarygrass on the Kenai Peninsula: Before, Now, and in the Future. http://www.kenaiweeds.org/user_images/Blaine%20RCG%20talk%20-%20CNIPM%2009.pdf. Accessed: December 14, 2011.Google Scholar
Suominen, J. 1979. The grain immigrant flora of Finland. Acta Bot. Fenn. 111:1–108.Google Scholar
Thomas, N., Steele, J., King, C., Hunt, T., and Weiss, J. 2007. Weed pathway risk assessment—Stage 2. Melbourne, Australia Department of Primary Industries. 51 p.Google Scholar
[USDA–AMS] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. 2009. Items of interest in seed. http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5076042. Accessed: September 16, 2011.Google Scholar
[USDA–AMS] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. 2010. State Noxious-Weed Seed Requirements Recognized in the Administration of the Federal Seed Act. http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRD3317318. Accessed: September 16, 2011.Google Scholar
van der Meulen, A. W. and Sindel, B. M. 2008. Pathway risk analysis for weed spread within Australia. Appendix 3: Review of literature. Armidale, NSW, Australia University of New England UNE61. 72 p.Google Scholar