Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Principles and practices for managing rangeland invasive plants
Author
Masters, R. A.
Sheley, R. L.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2001-09-01
Body

Invasive plants reduce the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services required by society, alter ecological processes, and can displace desirable species. They can reduce wildlife habitat quality, riparian area integrity, rangeland economic value, and enterprise net returns. The invasion process is regulated by characteristics of the invading plant and the community being invaded. The presence and spread of invasive plants is often symptomatic of underlying management problems that must be corrected before acceptable, long-term rangeland improvement can be achieved. Disturbance appears to be important early in the invasion process because it creates vacant niches that alien plants can occupy. Control of invasive plants may only open niches for establishment of other undesirable plants unless desirable plants are present to fill the vacated niches. In many instances, rangelands have deteriorated to the point that desirable species are either not present, or in such low abundance that plant community recovery is slow or will not occur without revegetation after invasive plants are controlled. Integrated weed management employs the planned, sequential use of multiple tactics (e.g. chemical, biological, cultural, and mechanical control measures) to improve ecosystem function (energy flow and nutrient cycling) and maintain invasive plant damage below economic levels, and emphasizes managing rangeland ecosystem functions to meet objectives rather than emphasizing a particular weed or control method. Sustainable, integrated invasive plant management strategies require assessing plant impacts, understanding and managing the processes influencing invasion, knowledge of invasive plant biology and ecology, and are based on ecological principles. Invasive plant management programs must be compatible with and integrated into overall rangeland resource management objectives and plans. Because of the complexity of managing invasive plants, it is imperative that relevant ecological and economic information be synthesized into user-friendly decision support systems. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2307/4003579
Additional Information
Masters, R. A., & Sheley, R. (2001). Invited synthesis paper: principles and practices for managing rangeland invasive plants. Journal of Range Management, 54(5), 502-517.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/643585
Journal Volume
54
Journal Number
5
Journal Pages
502-517
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
decision support systems
mechanical methods
integrated pest management
expert systems
Weeds
cultural control
biological control
endemic species
crop-weed competition
decision making
range condition
ecological succession
invasion
herbicides
weed control
plant communities
land restoration
range management
introduced species
rangelands
biological control
herbicides
revegetation
native plants
alien plants
restoration
renovation
adaptive management
integrated weed management
noxious weeds