Kerrie Kyde
Friday, October 17, 2008 - 1:30-2:00
The alarming spread in Maryland forests of an invasive southeast Asian forest grass subspecies, rediscovered 10 years after its first identification, prompted state and county agencies and private non-profit conservation organizations to launch efforts to find, map and eliminate it. With the only reported populations of Oplismenus hirtellus ssp. undulatifolius, wavyleaf basketgrass, in North America, Maryland had to respond quickly to control the spread and if possible, eradicate the grass. We present the steps we took to initiate this effort, the obstacles we overcame to accomplish it, and the lessons we learned about inventory and assessment, technology and mapping, funding, partnerships, control methods, recordkeeping and last but not least, psychology.
Keywords: INVASIVE, EDRR, OPLISMENUS, WAVYLEAF BASTETGRASS