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Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
10-1-2025
Abstract
Cogongrass is a perennial grass that was introduced to the southeastern United States in 1912 and has since spread aggressively throughout the region. It is very resilient to disturbances as it can propagate through seed and rhizome, which makes it extremely difficult to control. Most efforts to control cogongrass populations have used synthetic herbicides, though burning and tilling have also been explored. A new method applies autotoxic leachates produced by the target plant to the plant for control. Although this method of control has been demonstrated in giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta), researchers have not yet identified the methods to control cogongrass. In this study, we compared how ethanol- and water-derived leachates impact cogongrass growth. We collected cogongrass rhizome from Winston County, MS, chopped it in a blender, then added 700 g of chopped rhizome to each of two jars, one with 1.1 L of water and one with 1.1L of 50% ethanol. Both jars soaked for 24 hours, then were strained to extract the liquid. The ethanol leachate was evaporated and resuspended in distilled water. In addition to the two leachates, we had three control treatments: distilled water, 5% ethanol, and 15% ethanol. Each treatment was applied as a soil drench to three cogongrass specimens. We measured the height and number of leaves daily and photographed each plant every other day. After seven days, we measured the wet and dry biomass of the above- and below-ground tissue of each plant. Preliminary results show that the ethanol treatments all had significantly less dry belowground mass than the water control (p < 0.05), but there were no other significant differences among treatments. Additional analyses and trials are going to be conducted to further explore the use of plant extracts for the control of cogongrass and other invasive plants.
Department
Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University, Starksville, MS
Project Mentor
Ashley Schulz (faculty at Mississippi State University)
Recommended Citation
Martin-Fuller, Mia; Esser, Elizabeth; and Schulz, Ashley, "Getting to the root of the problem: A comparison of rhizome extracts for the control of cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica)" (2025). Annual Student Research Poster Session. 200.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/srfposters/200
Funding and Acknowledgements
Funding for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (Grant # 2348895),USDA NIFA McIntire-Stennis project MISZ-069550, and USDA Forest Service Joint Venture Agreement (24-JV-11330101-010).