old world climbing fern- how do we kill you?
TRANSCRIPT
Old World climbing fern-
How do we kill you?
KRISTINA SERBESOFF-KING
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
MAY 2014
Old World
climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum)
• Grows Fast
• Spreads easily and
quickly
• Growth form difficult to
control
• Fire tolerant
• Invades a wide variety
of habitats
• Can grow in very
remote and undisturbed
areas
• Found as far north as
Sumter across to Volusia
County and Duval
How to identify: Leaflets usually without lobes & without
hairs on the lower surface; leaf stalks articulate (left behind
when leaf drops)
Fertile Non-fertile
Japanese
climbing fern (Lygodium japonicum)
Grows Fast
Spreads easily and
quickly
Growth form difficult
to control
Fire tolerant
Invades a wide variety
of habitats
Grows higher and drier
ground than OWCF
Found as far south as
Collier & Miami-Dade
Counties
James H. Miller, USDA Forest
Service, Bugwood.org
How to Identify: Leaflets usually lobed & with some hairs
on the lower surface; leaf stalks not articulate (they remain
attached to leaflet blades)
Fertile Non-fertile
Chuck Bargeron, University
of Georgia, Bugwood.org
Chris Evans, Illinois Wildlife
Action Plan, Bugwood.org
Central Florida Lygodium Strategy (CFLS) is…
• A partnership:
CFLS is…
• A strategic program:
– stay north
– Public and private lands
– detect and remove
Lygodium microphyllum
• A goal:
- create a “Lygodium-free” zone across central Florida
- prevent northward spread
Find it
• By aerial surveys: – past SFWMD, Avon Park
AFR, Light Hawk
– present SWFWMD
– missing east coast
• Via CISMAs: – limited resources
– phone and email contact
– in-person
• Via Sentinel sites – along northern line
Kill it
• If new and small - pull out by the root* and bag up
tightly, or spray
• Small or low-growing infestations -Spray-to-wet leaf
surfaces with herbicide
– Plants must be growing, not stressed
If climbing into trees:
poodle cut & spray
– cut at waist height
– 10-12 inch gap
– treat lower, rooted portion
of the plant with herbicide
• Re-treat
From: Natural Area Weeds: Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum), UF-IFAS Publication #SS-AGR-21, rev. 2/2013
Herbicides Herbicide Use rates Comments
Glyphosate
4lb ae1/gal
Spray to wet: 2%–3%
Aerial: 5–7.5 pt/ac
Aquatic; symptoms w/in 3
weeks; broad spectrum, some
hardwoods tolerant
Imazapic
2lb ae/gal
Spray to wet: 0.32%
Aerial: No
information
Not aquatic; symptoms w/in 3
weeks; highly selective
Metsulfuron
60%
Spray to wet: .07–1.4
oz/100 gal
Aerial: 1–2 oz/ac
Aquatic; symptoms > 3 months;
highly selective
Triclopyr amine
3lb ae/gal
Spray to wet: 0.5%
Aerial: NA
Aquatic; broad spectrum,
broadleaf plants & hardwoods;
symptoms w/in days 1Active ingredient expressed as the free acid.
Biocontrol defoliating moth, Neomusotima conspurcatalis
Biocontrol Neomusotima conspurcatalis
Release sites
2008-2009
Range 2012-
2014
soon
• >38 private
properties treated
• >5.2K acres
• 38 conservation
areas buffered
• 130 sentinel sites to
measure success
• Public managers
reporting sightings
• Orange County
roadways
Big picture in
Florida
FWC Upland Program - Early
Detection/Rapid Response Strike
Team
• Public conservation land
• lygodium, cogongrass or an
EDRR species identified by the
local CISMA
• maximum project size is 10
acres
• Easy site access
Public Lands Treatment
Success or failure?
Success? A strategic program:
•stay north - MAYBE
•public and private lands - YES
•detect and remove Lygodium microphyllum - YES
Failure? A goal:
• create a “Lygodium-free”
zone across central
Florida- NO found on
“firebreak”
• prevent northward spread-
NO found in Duval
Vision for the future
• Continue approach and partnership
• More effective and efficient partnership
Florida Forest Service to manage sentinel site
monitoring
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission position to help with field work
and contractor compliance
Need aerial surveys on the central-east coast:
ideas?
Need to ramp up submittal of sighting data –
ideally via EDDMapS
Contact us
Cheryl Millett
call: 863.604.3352
email: [email protected]
If you see Old World climbing fern in Pasco, Sumter, Lake, Seminole, Volusia or Duval Counties –
Let us know!!
For additional information and pictures of Old World and Japanese climbing ferns:
•Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS) publication “Identification and Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas” edited by K.A. Langeland and K. Craddock Burks
•UF-IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants website at http://plants.ifas.edu
•Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council website at www.fleppc.org