GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRY CONSIDER METHODS OF COMBATING AQUATIC WEEDS
THIS ARTICLE CONSIDERS THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: WHAT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE IN TECHNOLOGY TO ONTROL OR ELIMINATE THE UNDESIRABLE PROLIFERATION OF AQUATIC PLANTS IN NUMEROUS U.S. WATERWAYS? SEVERAL SPECIES OF THESE "WEEDS," INCLUDING THE PARTICULARLY BEAUTIFUL WATER HYACINTH, ARE BECOMING A RAPIDLY GROWING NUISANCE TO COMMERCIAL AND LEISURE-TIME USERS OF RIVERS AND LAKES, PARTICULARLY IN THE SOUTH. BECAUSE OF THE CURRENT NATIONAL CONCERN WITH METHODS OF PROTECTING AND PRESERVING ECOLOGICAL BALANCE, SCIENTISTS ARE ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN FINDING WAYS OF GETTING RID OF WEEDS WITHOUT USING HERBICIDES. OTHER METHODS INCLUDE BIOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL MEANS OF CONTROLLING AQUATIC WEEDS. HERBICIDES, HOWEVER, HAVE NOT BEEN CATEGORICALLY DISCARDED. NEW TECHNIQUES OF USING HERBICIDES ARE BEING INVESTIGATED. ON THE BIOLOGICAL FRONT, R*SEARCH IS BEING CONDUCTED TO FIND FISH, INSECTS AND PLANT PATHOGENS THAT CAN CONTROL THE GROWTH OF NOXIOUS WEEDS. THE USE OF PLANT PATHOGENS TO ONTROL AQUATIC WEEDS IS CONSIDERED RICH IN POSSIBILITIES, SINCE THERE ARE COUNTLESS PLANT DISEASES THAT ARE EASILY DISSEMINATED AND ARE NOT HARMFUL TO MAN. A MECHANICAL MEANS OF CONTROLLING AQUATIC WEEDS IS BEING STUDIED BY THE U.S. ARMY ENGINEERS WATERWAYS EXPERIMENT STATION WHERE ENGINEERS HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH LASER IRRADIATION OF WATER HYACINTHS. A DESCRIPTION OF THE TESTS CONDUCTED AND THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN ARE PRESENTED IN THIS ARTICLE.
- Publication Date: 1974-1
Media Info
- Features: Photos;
- Pagination: p. 9
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Serial:
- Army Research & Development
- Volume: 15 N
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Aquatic life; Control; Ecology; Environmental impacts; Herbicides; Irradiation; Lasers; Living things; Weeds
- Uncontrolled Terms: Aquatic pests
- Old TRIS Terms: Biological factors
- Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00219193
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jul 16 1974 12:00AM