Old World climbing fern-

How do we kill you?

KRISTINA SERBESOFF-KING

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

MAY 2014

Old World

climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum)

• Grows Fast

• Spreads easily and

quickly

• Growth form difficult to

control

• Fire tolerant

• Invades a wide variety

of habitats

• Can grow in very

remote and undisturbed

areas

• Found as far north as

Sumter across to Volusia

County and Duval

How to identify: Leaflets usually without lobes & without

hairs on the lower surface; leaf stalks articulate (left behind

when leaf drops)

Fertile Non-fertile

Japanese

climbing fern (Lygodium japonicum)

Grows Fast

Spreads easily and

quickly

Growth form difficult

to control

Fire tolerant

Invades a wide variety

of habitats

Grows higher and drier

ground than OWCF

Found as far south as

Collier & Miami-Dade

Counties

James H. Miller, USDA Forest

Service, Bugwood.org

How to Identify: Leaflets usually lobed & with some hairs

on the lower surface; leaf stalks not articulate (they remain

attached to leaflet blades)

Fertile Non-fertile

Chuck Bargeron, University

of Georgia, Bugwood.org

Chris Evans, Illinois Wildlife

Action Plan, Bugwood.org

Central Florida Lygodium Strategy (CFLS) is…

• A partnership:

CFLS is…

• A strategic program:

– stay north

– Public and private lands

– detect and remove

Lygodium microphyllum

• A goal:

- create a “Lygodium-free” zone across central Florida

- prevent northward spread

Find it

• By aerial surveys: – past SFWMD, Avon Park

AFR, Light Hawk

– present SWFWMD

– missing east coast

• Via CISMAs: – limited resources

– phone and email contact

– in-person

• Via Sentinel sites – along northern line

Kill it

• If new and small - pull out by the root* and bag up

tightly, or spray

• Small or low-growing infestations -Spray-to-wet leaf

surfaces with herbicide

– Plants must be growing, not stressed

If climbing into trees:

poodle cut & spray

– cut at waist height

– 10-12 inch gap

– treat lower, rooted portion

of the plant with herbicide

• Re-treat

From: Natural Area Weeds: Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum), UF-IFAS Publication #SS-AGR-21, rev. 2/2013

Herbicides Herbicide Use rates Comments

Glyphosate

4lb ae1/gal

Spray to wet: 2%–3%

Aerial: 5–7.5 pt/ac

Aquatic; symptoms w/in 3

weeks; broad spectrum, some

hardwoods tolerant

Imazapic

2lb ae/gal

Spray to wet: 0.32%

Aerial: No

information

Not aquatic; symptoms w/in 3

weeks; highly selective

Metsulfuron

60%

Spray to wet: .07–1.4

oz/100 gal

Aerial: 1–2 oz/ac

Aquatic; symptoms > 3 months;

highly selective

Triclopyr amine

3lb ae/gal

Spray to wet: 0.5%

Aerial: NA

Aquatic; broad spectrum,

broadleaf plants & hardwoods;

symptoms w/in days 1Active ingredient expressed as the free acid.

Biocontrol defoliating moth, Neomusotima conspurcatalis

Biocontrol Neomusotima conspurcatalis

Release sites

2008-2009

Range 2012-

2014

soon

• >38 private

properties treated

• >5.2K acres

• 38 conservation

areas buffered

• 130 sentinel sites to

measure success

• Public managers

reporting sightings

• Orange County

roadways

Big picture in

Florida

FWC Upland Program - Early

Detection/Rapid Response Strike

Team

• Public conservation land

• lygodium, cogongrass or an

EDRR species identified by the

local CISMA

• maximum project size is 10

acres

• Easy site access

Public Lands Treatment

Success or failure?

Success? A strategic program:

•stay north - MAYBE

•public and private lands - YES

•detect and remove Lygodium microphyllum - YES

Failure? A goal:

• create a “Lygodium-free”

zone across central

Florida- NO found on

“firebreak”

• prevent northward spread-

NO found in Duval

Vision for the future

• Continue approach and partnership

• More effective and efficient partnership

Florida Forest Service to manage sentinel site

monitoring

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Commission position to help with field work

and contractor compliance

Need aerial surveys on the central-east coast:

ideas?

Need to ramp up submittal of sighting data –

ideally via EDDMapS

Contact us

Cheryl Millett

call: 863.604.3352

email: cmillett@tnc.org

If you see Old World climbing fern in Pasco, Sumter, Lake, Seminole, Volusia or Duval Counties –

Let us know!!

For additional information and pictures of Old World and Japanese climbing ferns:

•Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS) publication “Identification and Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas” edited by K.A. Langeland and K. Craddock Burks

•UF-IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants website at http://plants.ifas.edu

•Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council website at www.fleppc.org