Early Detection/Rapid Response | Prevention Publications
The most effective, economical, and ecologically sound approach to managing
invasive plants is to prevent them from invading.
Land managers often concentrate on fighting well-established infestations,
at which point management is expensive and eradication is unlikely.
Infestations must be managed to limit the spread of invasive plants, but
weed management that controls existing infestations while focusing on prevention
and early detection of new invasions can be far more cost-effective.
Weed prevention depends on:
- Limiting the introduction of weed seeds. The Forest Service provides helpful guidelines for purchasing seed and understanding seed packaging labels to avoid introducing weeds.
- Early detection and eradication of small patches of weeds
- Minimizing the disturbance of desirable plants along trails, roads,
and waterways
- Maintaining desired plant communities through good management
- Monitoring high-risk areas such as transportation corridors and bare
ground
- Revegetating disturbed sites with desired plants
- Evaluating the effectiveness of prevention efforts and adapting plans
for the following year
Early Detection/Rapid Response
Even the best prevention efforts cannot stop all introductions.
Early detection of incipient invasions and quick, coordinated responses
are needed to eradicate or contain invasive species before they become
too widespread and control becomes technically and/or financially impossible.
Populations that are not addressed early may require costly ongoing control
efforts.
ED/RR Resources
Invasivespecies.gov-A
gateway to Federal and state invasive species activities and programs. Manager's
toolkit includes:
Dangerous Travelers: Controlling Invasive Plants Along America's Roadways. Training video for road maintenance crews developed by the USDA Forest Service and partners. Free from Forest Service or via download.
Developing Bid Specifications for Invasive Plant Control Programs (pdf). A thorough guide, from establishing goals, identifying and prioritizing species, and outlining tasks, to contractor requirements and types of contracts.
Early Detection-Chapter
4 of the Global Invasive Species Programme's Online Toolkit. 2001.
Early Detection of Invasive Plant Species Handbook (draft), a cooperative USGS/NPS project. Includes formulating species lists, prioritizing species and
sites, utilizing predictive models (site-based and species based),
utilizing remote sensing, formulating search
strategies, rapid response strategies and feedback loops.
Invaders Database - Weed
distribution records for five northwestern states; includes maps, photos,
and biological information; updated regularly.
Nevada's War on Weeds: Avoid
Exploding Weed Populations with Prevention and Early Detection - Specific
recommendations for the prevention and early detection of invasive plants.
Weed Watch flyers from MSU Extension. Full-color, well-illustrated flyers with I.D., biology, and control info. Whitetop, houndstongue, leafy spurge, yellow starthistle, knapweed, saltcedar, toadflax. Download or contact MSU Extension Publications for free copies.
Publications: Practical Steps to Weed Prevention
Montana Weed Prevention Area Pilot Project
Beware of
Invasive Species from the Federal Highway Administration
Biodiversity
and Conservation: A Hypertext Book by Peter J. Bryant (pjbryant@uci.edu),
School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine - discusses introduction
of exotic plants and new
pathways for invasion
Cutting Costs with
Weed Prevention (pdf) from the Association
of Alberta Agricultural Fieldmen and other partners.
Don't Move Firewood. Moving firewood is a leading cause of the spread of invasive forest pests inside the US. But it is also one of the most preventable causes.
Invasive Plant Prevention Guidelines-a 24-page
booklet on preventing the invasion and establishment of invasive plants
on roadsides and in natural areas. Sept. 2003, $1.50. Order from Montana
State University Extension Publications, request publication 4472.
Invasive Species, from Babe Winkelman Productions. Learn how anglers can help prevent the spread of invasive species.
Inspection and Cleaning Manual for Equipment and Vehicles to Prevent the Spread of Invasive Species. Technical Memorandum No. 86-68220-07-05. U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Denver, Colorado September 2009
Nevada's War on Weeds-Avoid
Exploding Weed Populations with Prevention and Early Detection.
From UNR Cooperative Extension.
Measures to Prevent the
Spread of Noxious and Invasive Weeds During Construction Activities (pdf),
from the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Service.
New Strategies
for Weed Prevention from Exotic Pests of Eastern Forests, Conference
Proceedings. Posted by www.invasive.org.
Includes regulatory strategies; weed detection at ports of entry; bibliography
Plan Now for
Noxious Weed Prevention-a publication from MSU Communication
Services outlining how the most effective method in managing noxious
weeds is to prevent their invasion into weed-free areas.
Preventing
Noxious Weed Invasion (pdf), MSU Extension Service publication 9517
Preventing horticultural introductions of invasive plants: potential efficacy of voluntary initiatives. 2007 article in Biological Invasions. Provides specific recommendations for improving participation in voluntary programs in the horticulture trade.
Prevention, Chapter 10 in CIPM's Online Invasive Plant Management Textbook.
Prevention
Practices from Alberta Dept. of Sustainable Resource Development
Sand and Gravel Pit Certification Program. Sand and gravel pits can be a source of weeds. The Greater Yellowstone
Area (MT, ID, WY ) has come up with a sand/gravel pit
certification program easily adaptable to other places (pdf files).
State Noxious
Weed Seed Requirements Recognized in the Administration of the Federal
Seed Act
Transfer of Invasive Species Associated
with the Movement of Military Equipment
and Personnel, from DoD Legacy Resource Management Program. 126-page pdf file (use Internet Explorer to download).
USDA Forest Service Comparison of Relocatable Commercial Vehicle Washing Systems
(Posted 16 Jun 09) This report from the USDA Forest Service compares a range of vehicle washing systems with respect to efficacy, economics, waste containment, waste disposal, and the viability of any propagules that were collected in the cleaning process. The purpose of this evaluation was to provide contracting officers from various government agencies with guidance on the parameters for contract washing systems. Funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, this project was a joint venture between Montana State University (Bozeman, MT), San Dimas Technology and Development Center, and the Army Corps of Engineers - Engineer Research and Development Center (Champaign, IL).
The USDA
Forest Service Guide to Weed Prevention Practices (pdf) - comprehensive
directory of weed prevention practices for use in Forest Service planning
and wildland resource management
Vectors and
Pathways-info on introduction of exotic species and risk assessments
from the Manager's Tool Kit at the National Invasive Species Information Center
Weed
Prevention from the Alberta
Dept. of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development. Guidelines for
weed prevention in croplands.
Weed Prevention
and Management Guidelines for Public Lands - BLM, California. How to prevent introduction from contamination, movement, and disturbance.
Planning measures to prevent introduction.
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