Practicality of low-impact control options for Heracleum mantegazzianum, pilot field study
Description
Aims were to investigate the practicality and efficacy of alternatives to glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) when trying to eradicate or limit the presence of Heracleum mantegazzianum along a three mile river stretch. The terrain was difficult (wading, climbing steep banks, moving through dense vegetation) so tools had to be relatively easy to carry and use. Quadrats spanning 4x4m and including a minimum of six plants were set up, three different growth variables recorded, and one of four treatments applied. For more info on background and methods please see related link. The dataset contains two spreadsheets. The first sheet 'raw data' shows the values of the three different growth variables recorded at each quadrat. Values were recorded at two separate times: just before a treatment was applied (column suffix 'pre' in dataset) and 3-4 weeks later (column suffix 'post' in dataset). The second sheet 'regrowth data' display fractional values. These have been calculated by dividing 'post' values with 'pre' values, and show the regrowth after treatment as a proportion of the original growth value recorded. Potential differences between treatments were analysed using One-way ANOVA. Welch Test was used where assumptions for non-equal variances were not met. Our results showed burning to be significantly less efficient at reducing the number of plants. Spraying and root-cutting treatments were not significantly different but the latter took approximately five times longer to apply. See related link for more info.