Sign up for the iWire to get breaking news, event info and the species spotlight.

Abstract Detail

Return to List

Author: Wendt, Aaron
Email: awendt@tsswcb.texas.gov
Phone: 2547732250
Organization: Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
Address: PO Box 658, Temple, TX, 76503

Abstract Title: Rio Grande Carrizo Cane Eradication Program - Improving Border Security and Restoring Ecosystem Function of the Rio Grande through Invasive Species Control. Aaron Wendt, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, Temple, TX.

Abstract Text: Large dense stands of invasive, non-native carrizo cane (Arundo donax) now occupy the banks and floodplains of the Rio Grande, thwarting law enforcement efforts along the international border, impeding and concealing the detection of criminal activity, restricting law enforcement officers’ access to riverbanks, and impairing the ecological function and biodiversity of the Rio Grande. In order to help meet the Governor’s border security priorities, the 84th Texas Legislature, in 2015, directed the TSSWCB, through Senate Bill 1734, to develop and implement a program to eradicate carrizo cane along the Rio Grande. Arundo is considered one of the greatest threats to the health of riparian ecosystems in the southwestern U.S., with great negative impact to biodiversity and ecological processes. As a result of this weed’s high evapotranspiration capacity, infestations threaten water supplies for agricultural and municipal drinking water uses in south Texas. The TSSWCB must develop a program that establishes long-term management of arundo at a landscape scale along the entire Rio Grande, an international border with great ecological and cultural significance. Due to the diversity of biological, legal, and cultural issues associated with control of arundo along the 1,255-mile Rio Grande international border, the TSSWCB envisions an ecosystem-based approach that will integrate the use of biological, chemical, mechanical, and cultural controls, as appropriate. The TSSWCB is currently in the "public scoping" stage of soliciting input from the public and affected stakeholders into how this program should be developed and implemented.

Conference
Year: TIPPC_2016
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Presenter Type (Student or Regular): Regular
Session: 3. Control and Management
Submission Date: 2016-02-04

Share