2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) 1) Conduct population- and organismal-level studies on invasive weeds, measure their impact on agricultural and natural environments, and conduct research on their growth, distribution and control.. 2)Identify, collect, and evaluate natural enemies for management of invasive weeds, and to develop and apply new benefit/ risk evaluation methods for biological control of weed activities.. 3)Conduct ecological, community, and area-wide assessments of invasive species impact; develop and implement biological control release and evaluation technologies; conduct natural enemy impact assessments, and integrate biological control programs with other weed control methods.. 4)Assess post-release recovery of desired species; and develop and integrate effective revegetation technologies with biological control technologies, with overall focus on Integrated Vegetation Management methodologies. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) 1) Permanent quadrats will be established at sites in Turkey to monitor seasonal changes in plant density, plant phenology and seed production of yellow starthistle, and will be compared to similar data collected in California. Differences in life table parameters will indicate what general differences in survivorship and fecundity occur. Such studies will include detailed plant growth and life-table experiments conducted on the target plants under a range of moisture, nutrient, and soil conditions that represent typical growing condition in portions of CA.. 2)Foreign surveys for natural enemies are planned in the native homes of four weeds proposed as targets for this project. Foreign surveys will be composed of two types of investigations- short, opportunistic trips, and intensive surveys in selected regions. While short visits are cheaper, and are necessary to select areas for more intensive effort, we will favor more intensive surveys that will result in a prioritized list of potential biocontrol agents. Additionally, we will assess the risk to non-targets by potential biological control agents through host range tests to demonstrate the host specificity of the candidate agent. Additionally, we will also assess the probable impact of new biological control agents on the perspective target and their developmental biology.. 3)We plan to investigate different aspects of community and area-wide interactions of pest plants and natural enemies using a variety of methods. In herbivory studies, we plan to conduct three different types of research, controlled greenhouse studies where different treatment densities of the biological control agents are held on fixed sized plants; field studies where fixed levels of insects are associated with naturally growing plants under cage conditions; and open field plants that will have manipulated densities of natural enemies that will more precisely mimic the phenology and density of expected attack. These studies will measure factors such as defoliation levels, water loss, plant regrowth, root reserves, seed production, etc., and will allow evaluation of host and natural enemy synchrony under realistic field conditions.. 4)A combination of detailed intensive population dynamics studies and more extensive generational sampling will be conducted for the saltcedar leafbeetles in multiple release sites, and mapped through a combination of remote sensing and GIS technology. As beetle populations spread, the area and target plants affected by the defoliation will be further characterized and the number of plants sampled will be enlarged to fill the space inhabited by the expansion of the beetle populations. Both aerial remote sensing and hyperspectral imaging will be conducted using ARS and NASA equipment with summary maps made available to cooperators through internet services. 4.Accomplishments New Biological Control Agent for Yellow Starthistle: Yellow starthistle is an invasive alien weed infesting 20 million acres of the western U.S. Experiments conducted in the quarantine laboratory of the Western Regional Research Center determined that this weevil is environmentally safe and that it could potentially provide long-term reduction of yellow starthistle populations. Completed evaluation of Ceratapion basicorne, a prospective biological control agent of yellow starthistle, and submitted a petition to TAG (USDA-APHIS Technical Advisory Group) proposing it for release. Successful control of this invasive alien weed would save tens of millions of dollars per year in control costs and losses to rangeland productivity and recreational use. It will also help conserve groundwater and decrease risk of wildfire. This research supports ARS National Program 304, Component:Weed Science, Problem Statement:Biological Control of Weeds. Developing biological control agents for Cape-ivy: During 2007, testing was completed on the host range of two South African insects that damage Cape-ivy – a gall-forming fly, Parafreutreta regalis, and a stem boring moth – Digitivalva delaireae – and work was begun on the process of officially requesting their release. Cape-ivy is a vine, native to South Africa, that has become a serious problem in coastal regions of California and Oregon, especially in natural areas where hand-pulling is frequently the only management option. The host-specificity testing of these two candidate biological control agents was carried out at the ARS Biological Control of Weeds Quarantine Facility in Albany, CA and by our South African cooperators from Plant Protection Research Institute at their Weeds Research Division in Pretoria. If, as expected, permission to release these insects is obtained, they may help land managers in controlling this aggressive vine and thus provide extensive protection of the natural environment. This research supports ARS National Program 304, Component:Weed Science, Problem Statement:Biological Control of Weeds. Host Specificity of a new Russian Thistle Biological Control Agent: Conducted host plant specificity evaluations in quarantine on a prospective biological control agent of Russian thistle (tumbleweed), Gymnancyla canella. Russian thistle is an invasive alien weed infesting millions of acres of the western U.S. Experiments conducted in the quarantine laboratory of the Western Regional Research Center indicate that this agent may be sufficiently host specific and that it could potentially provide long-term reduction of tumbleweed populations throughout the western U.S. Successful control of tumbleweed would save tens of millions of dollars per year in control costs and reduced damage to crops, and it will reduce the need to apply herbicides and insecticides (to control beet leafhopper which transmits viruses to many crops), decrease costs to unclog irrigation canals, and decrease risk of wildfire. This research supports ARS National Program 304, Component:Weed Science, Problem Statement:Biological Control of Weeds. Colonization and testing of new biological control agents for yellow starthistle: Yellow starthistle is an invasive alien weed infesting 20 million acres of the western. U.S. Experiments conducted in the quarantine laboratory of the Western Regional Research Center determined that this weevil is environmentally safe and that it could potentially provide long-term reduction of yellow starthistle populations. Laboratory colony of Psylliodes chalcomera, a prospective biological control agent of yellow starthistle was established and completed evaluation of Ceratapion basicorne. With these data on C. basicorne, a petition to the USDA-APHIS Technical Advisory Group was submitted, proposing it for release into North America. Successful control of this invasive alien weed would save tens of millions of dollars per year in control costs and losses to rangeland productivity and recreational use. It will also help conserve groundwater and decrease risk of wildfire. This research supports ARS National Program 304, Component:Weed Science, Problem Statement:Biological Control of Weeds. Biological Control of Saltcedar for California: Saltcedar is one of the worst invasive shrubs in all of the Western US, as it produces extensive monocultures in highly valued riparian areas, uses extensive amounts of water and increases fire danger. A new biotype of the saltcedar leafbeetle from Crete Greece was established in Central California and is now spreading rapidly within the test watershed. Entomologists at the Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit worksite in Albany, CA have obtained establishment of this natural enemy along Cache Creek, near Woodland, CA, where the new agent has spread nearly 20 miles causing wide-spread defoliation of Tamarix parviflora. The impact of this work is extremely high and is causing the decline of invasive saltcedar in areas where ARS biological control technologies have been implemented, saving thousands of dollars in chemical control costs/ acre, while avoiding the use of broadspectum pesticide application. This research supports ARS National Program 304, Component:Weed Science, Problem Statement:Biological Control of Weeds. Broom Biological Control: Invasive brooms are especially destructive to pastures and open areas in forests where recent harvests have been completed. Scientists from the Albany worksite of the Exotic and Invasive Weeds Reseaerch unit have completed a detailed assessment of two different broom insects, one under quarantine and one in the field, assessing their efficacy against two different invasive broom species. A new biological control agent of French broom has been evaluated for efficacy against French broom plants in Europe and California testing the EICA hypothesis, and field assessments of the efficacy of another insect that feeds on the seeds of Scotch broom has been tested in the State of Washington. If successful, these new biological control agents could reduce the invasive nature of exotic brooms, reduce forest fires and elimiate other costly aspects of broom invasion. This research supports ARS National Program 304, Component:Weed Science, Problem Statement:Biological Control of Weeds. 5.Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations Several aspects of the research in this project support special target populations including small farmers and Native American populations. Biological control research is conducted in such a way as to be cost effective for small-scale producers and some of the specific research conducted through this project was implemented on both small farms and on Native American/ Tribal lands. 6.Technology Transfer Number of web sites managed 1 Number of non-peer reviewed presentations and proceedings 10 Number of newspaper articles and other presentations for non-science audiences 6 Review Publications Fisher, A.J., Woods, D.M., Smith, L., Bruckart, W.L. 2007. Developing an optimal release strategy for the rust fungus Puccinia jaceae var. solstitialis for biological control of Centaurea solstitialis (yellow starthistle). Biological Control. 42:161-171. Balciunas, J.K., Smith, L. 2006. Pre-release assessment, in quarantine, of a tephritid gall fly being considered as a biological control agent for Cape ivy (Delairea odorata). Biological Control Theory and Application in Pest Management. 39(3):516-524. Balciunas, J.K. 2007. Lixus Cardui, a Biological Control Agent for Scotch Thistle (Onopordum acanthium): Safe for Australia but not USA?. Biological Control. 4(11):134-141. Fisher, A.J., Bruckart, W.L., Mcmahon, M., Luster, D.G., Smith, L. 2006. First report of puccinia jaceae var. solstitialis pycnia on yellow starthistle in the United States. Plant Disease.90:1362. Smith, L. 2007. Physiological host range of Ceratapion basicorne, a prospective biological control agent of Centaurea solstitialis (Asteraceae). Biological Control. 41:120-133 Ge, S., Everitt, J.H., Carruthers, R.I., Gong, P., Anderson, G.L. 2006. Hyperspectral characteristics of canopy components and structure for phenological assessment of an invasive weed. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 120:109-126