Survival and regeneration ability of clonal common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) after a single herbicide treatment in natural open sand grasslands

Abstract

invasive species are a major threat to biodiversity, human health, and economies worldwide. clonal growth is a common ability of most invasive plants. the clonal common milkweed Asclepias syriaca L. is the most widespread invasive species in pannonic sand grasslands. Despite of being an invader in disturbed semi-natural vegetation, this plant prefers agricultural fields or plantations. Herbicide treatment could be one of the most cost-effective and efficient methods for controlling the extended stands of milkweed in both agricultural and protected areas. the invasion of milkweed stand was monitored from 2011 to 2017 in a strictly protected UNESCO biosphere reserve in Hungary, and a single herbicide treatment was applied in May 2014. This single treatment was successful only in a short-term but not in a long-term period, as the number of milkweed shoots decreased following herbicide treatment. the herbicide translocation by rhizomatic roots induced the damage of dormant bud banks. the surviving buds developing shoots, growth of the milkweed stand showed a slow regeneration for a longer-term period. We concluded that the successful control of milkweed after herbicide treatment depends on repeated management of treated areas to suppress further spreading during subsequent seasons. Currently, invasive species are a major threat to biodiversity, human health, and economies 1-4. It has been estimated that the fight against invasive species and the damage caused by them in European Union accounts for a minimum of 9.6-12.7 billion euros annually, and this amount is expected to rise to 20 billion euros annually 1,5-7. The most important elements of protection against invasive species are prevention of introduction and early detection. In the case of established invasive species, the most successful options are eradication or isolation 8-13. Herbicide treatment is one of the most effective ways to control or eradicate invasive plants in large areas 10,14-19. Nevertheless, herbicide application of invasive species are rather arguable as their application negatively influence the growth of native species, composition of the species and abiotic factors (quality of the above and below ground water supply, soil and air) in protected areas 18,20,21. Consequently, herbicides have to be carefully chosen (dosage, types and combination) based on the native species community 16,19,20. Therefore, the herbicide application must be well planned and localized, the applied chemicals should be safe and effective. However, the use of these products in non-agricultural areas are very rarely accessible 10,22,23. This knowledge gap also requires not only extensive research but also effective exchange of information and experience 10,18,19. Clonality is common among invasive plants 24-26. The common reed Phragmites australis 27 , alligator weed Alternanthera philoxeroides 28-30 , Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica 31-35 , Solidago species 14,36 , and Canada thistle Cirsium arvense 37,38 are examples of problematic invasive clonal species. Thei...

Asclepias syriaca I. is a threat to biodiversity and agriculture of Ukraine

“…Large and tall bushes of Asclepias syriaca strongly suppress cultivated plants and complicate the harvesting process. According to experts in the United States, the annual loss of Asclepias syriaca is about $ 3.2 million [1,2,4,[6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…Ukrainian scientists [7,[14][15][16]21], who study the problem of the invasion of the Asclepias syriaca, have established its extremely rapid spread. A few years ago, the plant was distributed mainly in the eastern part of Ukraine: Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions.…”

“…Corolla incised, its blades oval 6-7 mm long, slightly narrowed to the apex, curly-fluffy on the outside. The crown of the stamens consists of five cap-shaped blades with two teeth and a keratinized flat appendage, which protrude from the inner plane of the cap [1,3,5,7,8]. The fruit is a swollen crescent-shaped green box with a corrugated surface 10-12 cm long, during ripening it opens on the sides.…”

“…This species is tolerant of precipitation. It consumes from 400 to 1200 mm per year, the optimum average annual temperature is 8-14 ° С, the soil pH is 5.5 -7.3 [1,7,[18][19][20][21].…”

Shade Avoidance and Light Foraging of a Clonal Woody Species, Pachysandra terminalis

“…Clonal plants produce their offspring via not only sexual reproduction but also asexual reproduction, in which new individual clones with an identical gene set, called ramets, are generated [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Elucidating the mechanism by which clones forage resources in heterogeneous environments is a central issue in clonal plant ecology [ 4 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], plant growth modeling [ 23 ], and their application in vegetation management [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Additionally, the spatial arrangement of ramets determines the reproductive success of clonal plants; this is because aggregation of ramets that belong to the same genets leads to an increased percentage of geitonogamous self-pollination [ 6 ].…”