Abstract The U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) has been a leader in weed science research covering topics ranging from the development and use integrated management (IWM) tactics to basic mechanistic studies, including biotic resistance desirable plant communities herbicide resistance. ARS scientists have worked agricultural natural ecosystems, agronomic ho...

Biological control is a crucial tool in the battle against biological invasions, but biocontrol agents can have a deleterious impact on native species. Recognition of risks associated with host shifting has increased the emphasis on host specificity of biocontrol agents for invasive weeds. However, recent studies indicate hostspecific biocontrol agents can also exhibit substantial nontarget eff...

Monitoring of populations of a target weed species prior to releasing natural enemies has the potential to improve the rigor and safety of biological control and to determine the invader’s impacts on native communities while creating a reference point for evaluating the efficacy of subsequent biocontrol agent releases. Eight populations of garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb) Cavara and...

abstract increased knowledge of russian knapweed biology would facilitate development of an optimum control program. to examine germination characteristic of this weed, several experiments were conducted in weed research department, plant pest and diseases research institute of tehran during 2003. first experiment was a factorial with 3 replications to break seed dormancy of this weed. first fa...

Invasive plants cause substantial environmental damage and economic loss. Here, we explore the possibility that a selfish genetic element found in plants called cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) could be exploited for weed control. CMS is caused by mutations in the mitochondrial genome that sterilize male reproductive organs. We developed an analytical model and a spatial simulation to assess th...