[This should've been posted back before break! Sorry!]
Biocontrol will be tested in EU for the first time ever, in efforts to manage an invasive Japanese knotweed populating the UK. Originally introduced as an ornamental by the Victorians, this vigorous plant grows quickly; growing more than one meter (about 3 feet) in a month’s time. Japanese knotweed has a detrimental tendency to outcompete the UK’s native vegetation. In the past century, this invasive plant has gradually grown into untamed numbers and spread across the UK countries. With the plant’s overwhelming numbers, it has incurred an estimated £150 million (or $200 million) cost per year to control and clear the invasive plant populations. This does not include the costs from repairing the damages on roads, buildings, and pavement as a result of this resilient plant.
The Aphalara itadori insect was nominated as the most effective, safest biocontrol agent, showing most selectivity for the Japanese knotweed. The A. itadori species feeds of the sap from the Japanese knotweed. In enough numbers, the insect can overwhelm an individual plant, sucking the “life” out of the plant. The UK government has recently approved the proposed plan to test the biocontrol method, releasing the insect at several select and isolated sites. Integration of some closely related, UK native knotweed species will be included at these tested sites to observe the selectivity of the released biocontrol. Should the insect begin to demonstrate indiscriminate feeding between the native and invasive plants, insecticidal/herbicidal applications are on stand-by. This biocontrol method is projected over a span of 5-10 years and hopes to significantly reduce the costs imposed by the invasive plant’s unwarranted growth.
--Malinda Ross
