PARENT SESSION
Poster Session # 16: Invasive Species.
Wednesday, August 6 Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. SITCC Exhibit Hall B.
Growth and invasive potential of two mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) populations in contrasting habitats and under different management practices.
Barney, Jacob*,1, DiTommaso, Antonio1, Weston, Leslie1, 1 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
ABSTRACT- Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris L.) is an introduced invasive perennial that exhibits wide variation in morphology and allelopathic properties. We studied the growth response and spread of mugwort plants from two morphologically distinct populations (ITH-1 and ITH-2) in two habitats typically colonized by mugwort: a fallow field and a turfgrass field. Important differences in growth and clonal expansion were observed between the two populations in both habitats over the 2-year study period. Although plants from the ITH-2 population were shorter than plants from the ITH-1 population, they produced more ramets and had greater rates of expansion. Plants from the two populations produced nearly three times as many ramets in the fallow field than in turfgrass and spread more than 1 m from the point of introduction within the two growing seasons. Mowing had a greater impact on the ITH-1 population than the ITH-2 population especially in the turfgrass habitat, greatly reducing the total number shoots produced. In addition, a greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate specific morphological characters that differed between mugwort populations. Differences in morphology, growth, and invasive potential of plants from these two mugwort populations are discussed in light of differences in their allelopathic abilities. The synthesis of growth data with morphological characters and allelopathic potential has implications for preemptive management.
Key words: morphological variation, mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), invasive weeds, allelopathy