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Controlling Cattail Invasion in Sedge / Grass Meadows

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Abstract

As a result of water-level regulation, cattails have invaded sedge/grass meadow in all wetlands on Lake Ontario. Even with a change in water-level-regulation to a more natural hydrologic regime, restoration requires methods for active cattail management without the ability to manipulate water depths and without imperiling other vegetation. We conducted replicated studies at a wetland site with an active invasion front in zones of nearly mono-dominant cattail and transitional invasion. We tested various combinations of cutting cattail ramets when carbohydrate reserves were minimized, spraying cut stems with herbicide, slicing rhizomes to mimic tilling, and hand-wicking resprouted ramets with herbicide. We also collected companion environmental data. The most effective treatment in both zones was cutting during the period with reduced rhizome carbohydrates followed by hand-wicking resprouted ramets with herbicide in late summer, which allows the herbicide to be absorbed by the rhizomes. Two years of treatment provide the best results, reducing cattail stem counts and cover by more than 50%, but follow-up applications in ensuing years may be warranted to treat surviving cattails. Given the widespread problem of cattail invasion, these treatments may have broad application in wetlands where water levels cannot be manipulated.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Brad Mudrzynski, John Bateman, and Alexander Healy for assistance in setting up the treatment plots, Taylor Ouderkirk for taking water-table and soil-moisture measurements, Brad Mudrzynski for statistical advice, and John Bateman for preparing tables and figures. Suggestions made by two anonymous reviewers and the Associate Editor are greatly appreciated.

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Author notes

  1. Kathleen Buckler

    Present address: US Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, 1776 Niagara Street, Buffalo, New York, 14207, USA

  2. Alex Czayka

    Present address: Western Reserve Land Conservancy, 3850 Chagrin River Road, Moreland Hills, Ohio, 44022, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Ecology, SUNY – The College at Brockport, 350 New Campus Drive, Brockport, New York, 14420, USA

    Douglas A. Wilcox, Kathleen Buckler & Alex Czayka

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  1. Douglas A. Wilcox
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  2. Kathleen Buckler
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Correspondence to Douglas A. Wilcox.

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Wilcox, D.A., Buckler, K. & Czayka, A. Controlling Cattail Invasion in Sedge / Grass Meadows. Wetlands 38, 337–347 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0971-8

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