Land Manager Resources  |  Online Materials  |  Further reading  |  Publishers and Booksellers  | 
Selected Reading

E-Learning-Engaging Volunteers and the Public in Invasive Plant Issues & Management. The US Fish & Wildlife Service and CIPM announce a new e-learning website with five self-study modules aimed at engaging volunteers and the public in invasive plant issues and management.

Invasive Species Citizen Science Program The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum trains volunteers as "citizen scientists" to identify and track invaders. This volunteer program contributes invasive species data to a national database.

Land Manager Resources

CIPM provides materials and resources that land managers can use to further their knowledge of invasive plant management.

Our online textbook, Invasive Plant Management, covers topics ranging from the ecological processes involved in plant invasion to monitoring weed populations. Our reading list below offers more information on ecological principles in weed management. See also Further Reading below.

Online Materials

Grass and Grass-like Weeds of California CD-ROM by Dr. Joe DiTomaso, UC Davis and the Weed Research & Information Center. This CD allows you to identify 200 weedy grasses using only plant parts visible to the naked eye. The intuitive keys offer a great way of self-tutoring on grass identification. Adaptable to other states as well. $30.00 + $3.00 shipping + CA tax

Great Basin Invasive Weeds Website (posted 1 Jun 09) - This website was developed at Utah State University primarily for students and teachers in grades 7-12; however, it can be used by other audiences, including land managers and the general public.

Interactive weed ID databases on CD-ROM available from XID Services, Inc., $49.95 plus shipping. Two CDs available:
- Pacific Northwest Illustrated CD, with over 600 weed images
- 1,000 Weeds of North America Illustrated CD

The National Invasive Species Information Center is the gateway to invasive species information covering Federal, State, local, and international sources, and the Web site for the National Invasive Species Council, which coordinates Federal responses to invasive species.

The National Biological Information Infrastructure is a great source for biological information about invasive species, biodiversity, and much more.

Radcliffe's IPM World Textbook - The University of Minnesota's electronic textbook of Integrated Pest Management with contributed chapters, continually updated. Site includes IPM and biocontrol links.

Western Weed Resource Catalog - CIPM's searchable online catalog containing over 1000 items such as fact sheets, University Extension Service publications, handbooks, and much more.

Further Reading

Books and Journals

Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the United States. Covers ecology, safety testing, nontarget impacts, and the processes of identifying, introducing, distributing, and monitoring biological control agents. Describes 39 target plants and 94 agents, including their origin, biology, habitat, impacts, and distribution.

Biological Invasions - A journal publishing research papers on the patterns and processes of biological invasions in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.

Control of Invasive Species from Transportation Research Board: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). Covers efforts of state departments of transportation to control invasive species, successful practices and lessons learned, Integrated (Roadside) Vegetation Management, along with physical, chemical, biological, and cultural control mechanisms.

Ecology of Weeds and Invasive Plants: Relationship to Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, 3rd Edition; Radosevich, Holt, and Ghersa, August 2007. The classic reference on weeds and invasive plants, revised and updated.

Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest, P. D. Boersma, S. H. Reichard, A. N. Van Buren, eds.), University of Washington Press, 2006, paperback, $29.95. Describes 108 invasive species of fish, plants, invertebrates, mammals, and birds, with photos, maps, life history, impacts, control methods, and more.

Weeds of California and Other Western States (Tomaso&Healy), 2 vol, 1900 pages. Most complete book on weed ID ever produced in the US; 750 species, 3000 color photos, detailed morphology and biology. Includes CD with all photos, copyright- free for educational use. $100 + tax and shipping.

Weeds of the West- A full-color, easy-to-use guide with over 900 color photographs showing the early growth stages, mature plants and features for positive identification of each weed discussed. Includes descriptions, habitats and characteristics of important weed species in the Western United States. Written by seven Extension Specialists and published by the Western Society of Weed Science. Widely available.

Western Wetland Flora - 300 species, photos, distribution maps, illustrated glossary of plant terms. USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.

Publishers and Booksellers

American Botanist Booksellers specializes in out-of-print books on agriculture, horticulture, olericulture (vegetable growing) and their history. Search on "weeds" for an interesting variety of publications, including out-of-print extension publications.

Apollo Books specializes in entomology, but includes field guides and natural history books on many topic froms publishers worldwide.

CRC Press, publishers on scientific and technical topics, including environmental science.

CSIRO Publishing Australian publisher of books, journals, multimedia on natural and biological sciences, including pest and weed control.

Flora & Fauna Books A Seattle bookstore and online service with new, hard-to-find, out-of-print and rare books on the life sciences, including gardening, botany, ornithology, mammals, insects, herpetology and more. A keyword search on "weeds" or "invasive" yields many interesting titles.

Island Press publishes approximately 40 new titles per year on topics ranging from biodiversity and land use to forest management, agriculture, marine science, climate change, and energy. A few titles of interest are Alien Species and Evolution, Nature out of Place, and Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers, and Citizens

Sinauer Associates, Inc., publishers of college-level textbooks in biology, psychology, and neuroscience.

• Species Invasions: Insights into Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography.

Timber Press is a Portland, Oregon, publisher of books about gardening, horticulture, botany, natural history, and the Pacific Northwest. Search on "native plants" for many books on gardening with natives.

University of Nebraska Press publishes North American Wildland Plants: A Field Guide, covering 200 of the most important wildland plants of North America and designed for a general audience as well as natural resource professionals.

Weed Science Society of America Books can be ordered from the website.

• Invasive Plants of Range and Wildlands and Their Environmental, Economic, and Societal Impacts Provides comprehensive information on the acreage infested, rate of spread and damage caused by sixteen important invasive plant species. Order from the Weed Science Society of America website; click on "book" in left panel.
• Interactive Encyclopedia of North American Weeds, 3rd Edition. Features 85 additional weed species, revised distribution maps that include Canada and Alaska, an expanded illustrated glossary of 565 botanical terms, and updated common and scientific names.

Selected reading on ecology and weed management

Booth, B. D., S. D. Murphy, and C. J. Swanton. 2003. Weed ecology in natural and agricultural systems. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK.
Explains ecological principles essential to understanding how weeds function in the environment. Emphasizes why weed management strategies within an IWM approach should be based on ecological knowledge. For readers with an understanding of basic biology.

Luken, J. O., and J. W. Thieret. 1997. Assessment and management of plant invasions. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Places the issue of nonindigenous plant invasion in a broader ecological context that includes human activity in managing natural resources, designing regulations, and dispersing organisms. Discusses pre-invasion ecological interactions as well as post-invasion management interactions.

McPherson, G. R., and S. DeStefano. 2003. Applied ecology and natural resource management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Provides practical guidelines for integrating applied ecology with natural resource management. Focuses on plant ecology as a foundation for management; describes how concepts and approaches used by ecologists to study communities and ecosystems can be applied to management.

Radosevich, S., J. Holt, and C. Ghersa. 1997. Weed ecology: Implications for management, 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
Focuses on interactive features of weeds, especially as they occur in agriculture, forest, and rangeland situations. By considering weeds foremost as plants and by relying on the concepts of plant ecology, the authors hope to provide a better understanding of weeds that will lead to better crop and weed management.

Sheley, R. L., T. J. Svejcar, and B. D. Maxwell. 1996. A theoretical framework for developing successional weed management strategies on rangeland. Weed Technology 10: 766-773.
Provides the mechanistic framework necessary for developing successional weed management systems that shift plant communities to a desired state.

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