We’re the culprits, it seems, in a surprisingly heated debate. Well, perhaps not us, specifically, but some long-ago erosion control practitioners who thought they’d found an ideal solution to streambank erosion.
According to an article from the Weed Science Society of America, salt cedar (Tamarix spp.) was introduced in the southwestern United States to control erosion. It was so successful that it rapidly displaced native grasses, cottonwood, and willow. It’s a thirsty plant, and as it spread it lowered groundwater levels, dried up ponds, and destroyed aquatic ecosystems. Mechanical and chemical means have been used to remove it, and recently a biological adversary, the salt cedar beetle, has been brought into the battle, released in large numbers to strip the plant of its leaves.
A symposium, held in conjunction with the annual conference of the Western Society of Weed Science, recently focused on how best to control salt cedar. We’ve touched on the issue before, and the question of what to do has even spawned a lawsuit against the federal government, as some groups feel the beetle has gotten out of hand and is destroying endangered birds’ habitat and opening the way for other, equally damaging non-native species to thrive.
What’s your take on the use of biological controls like the salt cedar beetle? You can find presentations and other material from the Western Society of Weed Science here.