Get reliable rangeland science

Post-Fire Management-Scale Trials of Bacterial Soil Amendment MB906 Show Inconsistent Control of Invasive Annual Grasses
Author
Lazarus, B.E.
Germino, M.J.
Brabec, M.
Peterson, L.
Walker, R.N.
Moser, A.
Publisher
Elsevier Inc.
Publication Year
2020-11
Body

Rangeland managers need tools to control invasive annual grasses, particularly following wildfire. We assessed responses of native and invasive/exotic grasses to the MB906 soil amendment containing live cultures of a purportedly weed-suppressive strain of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens (“WSB”). MB906 was applied alone and in combination with the pre-emergent herbicide imazapic on >3000 ha across three sagebrush-steppe landscapes burned several months prior. Replicate plots of each treatment type were established and plant cover was measured in the following three years. Cover of invasive-annual grasses (“IAG”) was not responsive to MB906 when all IAG species were considered (“IAG-All”). However, MB906 led to a 54% reduction in the IAG's that were previously reported to be controlled by WSB (“IAG-Target”) in the second year following application (IAG-Target = cheatgrass, Bromus tectorum and medusahead, Taeniatherum caput-medusae; IAG-All also includes Vulpia myuros and Bromus arvensis). MB906 reduced the effectiveness of co-applied imazapic: Imazapic alone reduced IAG-All by 83% and 68% in years 1 and 2, respectively, while imazapic+MB906 reduced IAG-All by 48% and 38% in years 1 and 2, respectively, across all landscapes, and a similar response pattern was observed for IAG-Target. Perennial grass cover was unaffected by the treatments except where it increased 4-fold in response to imazapic applied at a high rate (0.140 kg a.i. ha−1) in one of the landscapes. Tank mixing MB906 and herbicide may have lessened the biological activity of the herbicide by altering the pH or mineral content of the spray solution or by direct metabolism of the herbicide by the bacteria. These results do not provide strong support for MB906 as a tool for annual grass control, though they suggest further investigation may be warranted. © 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1016/j.rama.2020.03.005
Additional Information
Brynne E. Lazarus, Matthew J. Germino, Martha Brabec, Logan Peterson, Ryan N. Walker, and Ann Moser "Post-Fire Management-Scale Trials of Bacterial Soil Amendment MB906 Show Inconsistent Control of Invasive Annual Grasses," Rangeland Ecology and Management 73(6), 741-748, (20 November 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2020.03.005
ISSN
1550-7424
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/679521
Journal Volume
73
Journal Number
6
Journal Pages
741-748
Collection
Rangeland Ecology & Management (REM)
Journal Name
Rangeland Ecology and Management
Keywords
Bromus tectorum
imazapic
MB906
Taeniatherum caput-medusae
weed-suppressive bacteria
annual plant
bacterium
fire management
grass
Herbicide
invasive species
land management
rangeland
scale effect
soil amendment
weed control
Artemisia tridentata
Bacteria (microorganisms)
Bromus arvensis
Bromus tectorum
Poaceae
Pseudomonas fluorescens
Taeniatherum
Taeniatherum caput-medusae
Vulpia myuros