Series of Studies on Leafy Spurge Works to Find Sustainable Management Practices

Newswise — Immigrants from Eurasia are not welcome in the United States, at least when talking about the invasive plant species leafy spurge. This noxious weed alone costs producers and taxpayers an estimated $144 million a year in just the four states of Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. A special suite of nine studies about leafy spurge and its management are published in the latest issue of Rangeland Ecology & Management.

Listed as a noxious weed in 35 states, leafy spurge crowds out desirable plants and is toxic to cattle and horses, according to TEAM Leafy Spurge, a government program that funded many of these studies. The team urges biological control as a management tool to more effectively and sustainably control the weed.

One of the nine studies published used multispecies grazing, combined with flea beetles, to manage leafy spurge. By the end of the 5-year study, researchers found that the two methods had a positive synergistic effect. The flea beetles attacked the above- and belowground parts of leafy spurge, while sheep grazing provided a further impact on stems, leaves, and flowers. Also, the grazing of cattle and sheep in moderate numbers provided management of desirable species, which were able to survive without affecting the beetle.

Eight more studies highlight different management practices used on leafy spurge in North America. The following studies can be found in issue 59, volume 5, of Rangeland & Ecology Management: * Detection of Flowering Leafy Spurge with Satellite Multispectral Imageryhttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-494.pdf * The Use of Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus for Mapping Leafy Spurgehttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-500.pdf * Classification of Leafy Spurge with Earth Observing-1 Advanced Land Imagerhttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-507.pdf * Biological Control of Leafy Spurge: Utilization and Implementationhttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-445.pdf * Efficacy of Flea Beetle Control of Leafy Spurge in Montana and South Dakotahttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-453.pdf * Effect of Herbicides for Leafy Spurge Control on the Western Prairie Fringed Orchidhttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-462.pdf * Evaluation on TEAM Leafy Spurge Projecthttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-483.pdf * Integrated Management of Leafy Spurge-Infested Rangelandhttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-475.pdf * Potential Impact of Two Aprithoria spp. on a Native, Nontarget Euphorbia Specieshttp://www.allenpress.com/pdf/rama_59_5/i1551-5028-59-5-468.pdf

Rangeland Ecology & Management is published six times a year by the Society of Range Management. For more information, visit http://www.srm.org.