[MAIPC] New Information?

[ialm at erols.com]

Hi advocates for control of wavyleaf basketgrass,

Just a reminder.  How is current research developing on native biological
controls for wavyleaf basket grass by researching the native basketgrass,
which is not invasive, in North and South Carolina. The difficulty is
finding someone who is familiar with how bad wavyleaf basket grass is, but
doing the research in a state where the invasive has not arrived yet. It
has covered thousands of acres in Patapsco Valley in Maryland forming a
complete mono-culture and is considered our most serious invasive threats.
Do you know anyone else who may be able to do this critical work. If so,
thank you for passing this request on.


Thanks for your work in removing Oplismenus undulatifolius from Maryland
and Virginia. I learned at the Fall conference of the Maryland Native Plant
Society on Sept 20, 2014, held in Cecil County that a very large patch was
found nearby in Maryland very near Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.
It is estimated that unless we control it ASAP, 10-20% of the natural
environment of one forth of the united States may be lost. Two methods can
be employed:

1. Early Detection and Rapid Response. Many of us are actively removing and
facilitating removal at it's source in Patapsco Valley as well as surveying
for, and removing it elsewhere in Virginia and Maryland.

2. Research into effective, host specific, biological controls for Wavyleaf
Basketgrass.

    a. Research at it's origin in Eurasia, similar to the ongoing research
on Japanese Stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum. If this stage of research in
China reveals insects or pathogens that are evidently appropriate for
Japanese Stiltgrass, the next stage of research will be to test them in
quarantined conditions for host specificity on native American plants. The
same procedures would be done for wavyleaf basketgrass, Oplismenus
undulatifolius.

    b. Research into potential native biological controls for Wavyleaf
Basketgrass. For example, native biological controls have been found for
Tree of Heaven and Multiflora Rose. Unlike Japanese Stiltgrass, which has
no other species in the genus Microstegium native to America, there are
native species of the genus Oplismenus in America. So a biological control
of Asian origin is less likely to be host specific.

    Thanks for your interest in research of the life cycle of the native
Oplismenus in North and South Carolina, and elsewhere in America. The
native insects and pathogens that prevent the native Oplismenus from being
invasive could then be potential biological controls for the non-native
Oplismenus in Virginia and Maryland. John Peter Thompson suggests that the
research on what controls the native Oplismenus be done on the main patches
as well as at the edges of the populations to see what keeps the native
from spreading. Please share this request with potential researchers at
universities, agencies and other sources. One chalenge is the NIMBY(not in
my back yard) issue since some potential agencies and universities where
the native basketgrass occurs are in different States than where we are
currently experiencing the invasiveness of the non-native basketgrass and
understand the importance of the research.

Marc Imlay, PhD, Chair, Biological control working Group
Conservation biologist, Park Ranger Office, Non-native Invasive Plant
Control coordinator. Marc.Imlay at pgparks.com
(301) 442-5657 cell  Natural and Historical Resources Division
The  Maryland-National   Capital   Park  and Planning Commission



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