Invasive Plant Ecology and Management: Linking Processes to Practice

Bringing together ecology and management of invasive plants within natural and agricultural ecosystems, this book bridges the knowledge gap between the processes operating within ecosystems and the practices used to prevent, contain, control and eradicate invasive plant species. The book targets key processes that can be managed, the impact of invasive plants on these ecosystem processes and illustrates how adopting ecologically based principles can influence the ecosystem and lead to effective land management.

Tom is a research Ecologist with USDA-ARS, Forage and Range Research Laboratory in Logan, Utah. He principally studies plant-soil interactions of invasive weeds and develop strategies to improve vegetation management of shrub-steppe ecosystems of the Great Basin. He works closely with plant breeders, private landowners, and natural resource managers to better understand and restore vegetation dynamics that lead to stable, diverse, and productive rangelands. His past research describes differential responses of numerous perennial grasses and invasive annual grasses to changes in soil resources and herbicide application. Tom has recently conducted landscape-scale research to evaluate plant materials and management strategies to stabilize salt desert shrub ecosystems invaded by Bromus tectorum.

Roger is an Invasive Plant Ecologist with USDA-ARS, Range and Forage Meadow Management Research Unit in Burns, Oregon. His entire career has focused on understanding ecological processes that drives invasion and using that knowledge to create ecological principles for management. He has been a key principle in the development of Ecologically-based Invasive Plant Management (EBIPM), started the Center for Invasive Plant Management at Montana State University, and managed the Area-wide Implementation of EBIPM for the Agricultural Research Service. Roger has published over 100 refereed journal articles on invasion biology, restoration, and arid land management. His current research focuses on using life-history analysis to identify and quantify those ecological processes that are central to directing invasion and succession and developing management strategies that alter those processes to create desired vegetation trajectories in range and wild ecosystems.