The Effects of Plant Growth Regulators On Invasive and Native Plant Species.

The Department of Army manages approximately 14 million acres of land for military use. The presence of invasive plant species can impair military operations by limiting training activities due to a loss of realistic training conditions; by causing habitat destruction and biodiversity loss; and, by creating security and safety risks. In short, the presence of invasive species affects sustainable, mission-oriented land management activities on Army lands. While commercially available growth regulators are commonly used to suppress seed germination and reduce vegetative growth in turfgrass, very little research has been done looking at the use of growth regulators for the control and management of invasive weeds. In order to improve sustainable vegetation management on Army training lands, two plant growth regulators, abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellic acid (GA) were evaluated for their effects on seed germination of the invasive plant species cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and Sericea Lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) and three native plant species, Weatern Wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), Squirreltail (Elymus elymoides), and Needle and Thread Grass (Hesperostipa comata).