Alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard) is one of those plants that comes out of the ground easily enough but there simply aren't enough volunteer resources to get it out of millions of acres of natural areas as well as to follow up hand pulling the seedbank which can come back to haunt us for well over 5 years.
Check this out from Science Daily-
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213133316.htm
Pretty wild, eh?
Anyone else tired of hand pulling Garlic Mustard?
Equilibrium
Feb 15, 2008
Great site Equil. I could use that little weevil immediately.
Sounds promising, Equil; seems like they're taking the time to ensure they won't solve one problem by creating another. Now how do I sic them on ailanthus.... Surely in China there must have been some checks on the beast...
Equilibrium
Feb 18, 2008
So many biological controls backfired in the past that they've been taking their time to dot all their i's and cross all their t's for quite a while. What they're trying to do is speed-up the existing process and if this model works, it could help considerably. The costs associating with delaying control are astronomical as many of the worst invaders spread to new areas. The public picks up the bill.
Can't help you with Ailanthus, you're on your own there ;)
Agreed: the longer controls are delayed, the greater the cost when implemented, not to mention the damage to infested areas. Hope it works!
Yeah, I didn't think there was an ailanthus-specific gypsy moth with short life span; but hey, it never hurts to dream...
Equilibrium
Feb 19, 2008
Ahhh yes, sweet dreams indeed.
Can only speak for myself, but I'd be happy to invest in such a bugger if it were ever discovered and proven safe to other trees... Think I'll hold that thought next time I'm out there hacking and squirting.
Another article on the same page says garlic mustard kills beneficial soil fungi too. Eww, it's an awful invader !
Equilibrium
Feb 27, 2008
The plant is allelopathic, here ya go-
http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs/documnts/allipet.pdf
There's an article out there you might want to track down that I like better-
McCarthy, B.C. and S.L. Hanson. 1998. An assessment of the allelopathic potential of the invasive weed
Alliaria petiolata (Brassicaceae). Castanea 63:68-73.
What an adaptive trait, eh? Talk about killing off competition!