Efficacy of varying rates of herbicide and surfactant for the control of understory oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.) plants in an Appalachian hardwood forest

TL;DRAbstract

Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is an invasive climbing, twining vine that can grow up into the forest canopy effectively inhibiting growth and light exposure on affected trees. A local landowner who had treated bittersweet with various rates of a glyphosate-based herbicide claimed that higher than recommended rates of herbicide were needed to effectively control the invasive plant. This study was established to assess the validity of this claim and to explore the interaction of glyphosate and surfactant effects on the efficacy of bittersweet control. The goal was to determine an ideal treatment of herbicide and surfactant rates for the effective chemical control of C. orbiculatus. Four rates of glyphosate herbicide in the form of Accord ConcentrateRTM (0%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10 % volume to volume) were crossed with four rates of a common surfactant (Cide-Kick IIRTM; 0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 2%) to create 16 treatments. Treatments were randomly assigned to individual plants growing in

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