Beetles Sock It to Saltcedar - Brief Article

Agricultural Research, Sept, 2001

The first biological control agents to be set loose against invasive saltcedar, Tamarix spp., are Chinese leaf beetles, Diorhabda elongata. The 10- to 30-foot trees infest over a million acres along western waterways, displacing native plants and wildlife, increasing soil salinity, diverting natural streamflow, and increasing the frequency of wildfires.

Since July 1999, caged beetles have been carefully monitored at 10 locations in 6 western states. Now, their postrelease activity will be closely followed to ensure their establishment and evaluate their impact, population growth, and safety. The researchers want to protect native species in the release areas and to facilitate revegetation with native plants.

The project operates in conjunction with more than 30 federal, state, and local agencies; universities; and private organizations. A $3 million grant in 2000 from USDA's Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems supports work on a complex of invasive weeds, including saltcedar. C. Jack DeLoach, USDA-ARS Grassland, Soil, and Water Research Laboratory, Temple, Texas; phone (254) 770-6531, e-mail deloach@ brc.tamus.edu; Raymond I. Carruthers, USDA-ARS Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit, Albany, California; phone (510) 559-6127, e-mail ric@pw. usda.gov.