Project Number: 6204-22000-019-08
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Mar 01, 2007
End Date: Jan 22, 2010

Objective:
1) understand the water use of Arundo donax in riparian areas of the Rio Grande Basin; 2) predict in pre-release quarantine studies the potential impact of the candidate biological control agents on water use by A. donax; and 3) use this information to select the agents with the greatest potential to decrease water use of A. donax in the Rio Grande Basin.

Approach:
Field and laboratory populations of A. donax will be studied to determine the water use by this invasive weed of the Rio Grande Basin. This research will be coupled with greenhouse studies of A. donax inside the quarantine containment facilities to determine the impact of the candidate biological control agents on water use. This ecohydrology research will include plant collection and processing, leaf gas exchange measurements, plot surveys and delineation, installing and maintaining groundwater wells. The work will be conducted at the USDA-ARS APHIS biological control quarantine facility on Moore Air Base in Edinburg, TX, and various field sites in the lower Rio Grande Valley and Brazos Valley.