Aquatic Plant Control Research Program. Large-Scale Operations Management Test (LSOMT) of Insects and Pathogens for Control of Waterhyacinth in Louisiana. Volume 1. Results for 1979-1981

摘要

This report documents results of a Large-Scale Operations Management Test (LSOMT) of insects and plant pathogens for control of waterhyacinth in Louisiana during 1979-1981. The LSOMT consisted of five separate field studies as follows: Cercospora field application rate study, Neochetina, Sameodes, and a spring application of the original Cercospora formulation, Neochetina and a spring application of a modified Cercospora formulation, Neochetina and Sameodes, Establishment, dispersal, and distribution of Sameodes. The purpose of the studies was to determine which agents or agent combinations provided the greatest degree of control, and to determine the level of water hyacinth control that each agent or agent combination could provide. During the study, the population of waterhyacinth in Louisiana declined from 1.2 million acres to 300,000 acres. Results from the field studies implicated Neochetina eichhorniae Warner (mottled waterhyacinth weevil) as the principal factor responsible for the observed decline in waterhyacinth. The waterhyacinth population at the site used for the Cercospora field application rate study decreased by approximately 90 percent from April to September 1980, due principally to a dense population of Neochetina.