A stubborn plant may meet its match
Salt cedar, an invasive shrub that sucks up millions of gallons of water along western U.S. rivers like the Rio Grande, has been attacked with fire, bulldozers, chemicals and goats. Now two counties in southern Colorado are hoping to wipe out the ubiquitous, water-wasting plant with another weapon — beetles.
The Pueblo (Colorado) Chieftain reported Thursday that the plan calls for releasing a species of beetle from Kazakhstan on portions of the Arkansas River in hopes they will munch the plant, also known as tamarisk, into oblivion. Beetles have been used elsewhere with some success, but the Colorado release will be the farthest south for the Kazakhstani insects, the Chieftain reports. The beetles are being gathered near Grand Junction, Colo., where they migrated after being released for tamarisk control in Utah.
Not to fear, the paper reported: "... a decade of testing showed they literally would rather starve to death than eat anything but tamarisk."
Salt cedar was imported in the 1800s from central Asia as an ornamental plant and wind break, but like many other non-native species has spread out of control. Tamarisk is now deemed a threat, as it can drive native plants out of an area. A single large tree is thought to use as much as 200 gallons of water a day. "This is public enemy No. 1 as far as I'm concerned," Socorro County farmer Corky Herkenhoff told the Associated Press in 2002.
The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has used goats and other means in its ongoing war against the salt cedar. Perhaps the Colorado work will provide yet another weapon.
Be the first to comment