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Medusahead Control with Fall- and Spring-Applied Herbicides on Northern Utah Foothills

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas A. Monaco ,
Travis M. Osmond  and
Steven A. Dewey
Thomas A. Monaco*
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Lab., Logan, UT 84322
Travis M. Osmond
Affiliation:
Plants, Soils and Biometerorology Department, Utah State University, Logan UT 84322
Steven A. Dewey
Affiliation:
Plants, Soils and Biometeorology Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: tmonaco@cc.usu.edu
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Abstract

Medusahead is an aggressive, nonnative, winter annual grass that infests rangelands in the western United States. Its ability to rapidly spread, outcompete native vegetation, and destroy forage potential is a primary concern for landowners and land managers exposed to this weed. Prescribed burns were conducted at a low- and high-litter site in northern Utah prior to conducting experiments to evaluate the effects of fall and spring applications of sulfometuron at 39 or 79 g ai/ha and imazapic at 70 or 140 g ai/ha on medusahead and associated perennial grasses, annual and perennial forbs, and bare ground cover. Large differences in pretreatment medusahead litter between the sites resulted in less surface area burning at the low-litter site (∼10%) compared to the high-litter site (∼80%). Higher herbicide rates significantly increased medusahead control and bare ground cover; however, this rate affect largely depended on site, season, and herbicide. The low- and high-litter sites did not differ significantly in perennial grass cover 2 yr after burning. Annual forb cover was greater, but perennial forb cover was lower at the low-litter site compared to the high-litter site. Several treatment combinations were identified as having the potential to maintain greater than 50% medusahead control in the second year after herbicide applications. These results collectively demonstrate that potential exists to successfully control medusahead and produce a window of opportunity to reintroduce a greater abundance of perennial species back into the plant community via seeding.

Keywords

Imazapicsulfometuronmedusahead, Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski, # ELYCMPrescribed fireBromus tectorum L.Aegilops cylindrical Hostinvasive annual grassGreat BasinrevegetationBROTEAEGCY
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , September 2005 , pp. 653 - 658
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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