A Novel Method to Monitor the Efficacy of Phragmites Management
Location
Eccles Conference Center Auditorium
Event Website
http://water.usu.edu
Start Date
3-31-2015 8:10 AM
End Date
3-31-2015 12:20 AM
Description
Phragmites australis (here after Phragmites) is an invasive grass that is a disturbance specialist. Once it has taken hold it creates a monoculture that prohibits growth of native vegetation and thus wildlife is reduced. Control of Phragmites in Utah is costly. Much of this money is spent on control without leaving any for monitoring the efficacy of control methods. In order to bring down costs a study was conducted to develop a novel method of monitoring. During the study 2000 plus stems were measured for basal stem diameter, stem length, stem weight, inflorescence mass, nodes and herbivory. Analysis of stem data revealed three correlations (r^2=~ 0.80) -Basal stem diameter and stem height -Basal stem diameter and stem mass -Stem mass and stem height Phragmites that emerges in spring will emerge at the same basal stem diameter that it will have when full grown. Therefore by using a set of calipers one can save money by measuring the basal stem diameter in the field rather than taking samples back to the lab. In the future I will be looking at seven new rivers and contributing to the strength of this study with the addition of another 2000 plus stems.
A Novel Method to Monitor the Efficacy of Phragmites Management
Eccles Conference Center Auditorium
Phragmites australis (here after Phragmites) is an invasive grass that is a disturbance specialist. Once it has taken hold it creates a monoculture that prohibits growth of native vegetation and thus wildlife is reduced. Control of Phragmites in Utah is costly. Much of this money is spent on control without leaving any for monitoring the efficacy of control methods. In order to bring down costs a study was conducted to develop a novel method of monitoring. During the study 2000 plus stems were measured for basal stem diameter, stem length, stem weight, inflorescence mass, nodes and herbivory. Analysis of stem data revealed three correlations (r^2=~ 0.80) -Basal stem diameter and stem height -Basal stem diameter and stem mass -Stem mass and stem height Phragmites that emerges in spring will emerge at the same basal stem diameter that it will have when full grown. Therefore by using a set of calipers one can save money by measuring the basal stem diameter in the field rather than taking samples back to the lab. In the future I will be looking at seven new rivers and contributing to the strength of this study with the addition of another 2000 plus stems.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2015/2015Posters/37