Study Shows the Impact of Preemergent Herbicides on Native Plants

Though invasive weeds can devastate native plant communities, a recent study featured in the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management shows that efforts to manage those weeds can also cause harm.

In the arid rangelands of the western United States, winter annual weeds can negatively impact both forage production and biodiversity—altering fire patterns and disrupting natural ecosystems. One method used to control these unwanted weeds is to suppress the soil seedbank using the preemergent herbicide indaziflam. Indaziflam is nonselective and provides residual control in the top few centimeters of the soil.  

A team from Montana State University set out to explore the efficacy of indaziflam in controlling nonnative annual mustard plants that were invading Yellowstone National Park. They also wanted to understand the potential effects of the herbicide on the diverse native sagebrush communities that provide forage and habitat for wildlife.