About the Section's Research Program
Invasive plants degrade and diminish Florida's conservation
lands and waterways. Some invasive aquatic plants pose a
significant threat to human welfare by impeding flood control and
affecting recreational use of waterways and its associated
surrounding economy. The Invasive Plant Management
Section funds scientific research projects at
Florida's universities to improve the state's invasive plant
management programs by finding more cost-efficient control
techniques and also insuring these control methods are effective,
safe, and environmentally compatible. In addition, invasive
plants can develop resistant to herbicides over time and new
herbicides and/or herbicide combinations must be found through
research in order to maintain good control. Long term
management solutions, like biological control research, can offer a
permanent solution and can lower the need for herbicide use.
Areas of particular current section interest include, but
are not limited to, the following:
- Improved practices for chemical control of Colocasia
esculenta, Dioscorea bulbifera, Eichhornia
crassipes, Pistia stratiotes, Hymenachne
amplexicaulis, Lygodium microphyllum,L.
japonicum, Nymphoides cristata, Luziola
spruceana, Ruellia brittoniana, and especially for
controlling Hydrilla verticillata infestations in large
lake systems
- Ecological relationships between wildlife and the amount of
vegetation control
- Research on the causes, impacts, and control of blue-green
algae populations of Lyngbya and Cylindorspermopsis
- Research on the potential invasiveness of non-native bioenergy
production plant species candidates in Florida (Arundo
donax, Pennisetum purpureum, etc.).
- Susceptibility of native vegetation to increased concentrations
of fluridone
- Global climate shift and invasive plants
- Impacts of epiphytic algae within the Order Stigonematales on
apple snails and the birds that consume them - an AVM-related
issue, and Order Stigonematales population range studies in
Florida
FWC Invasive Plant Management Research and Outreach
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