In collaboration with “Consorzio di Bonifica 3 Medio Valdarno”, the public authority in charge of rivers maintenance and flood management, we started in 2020 a pilot study to identify suitable means of invasive alien speciesRoberto DantiSe containment without the use of herbicides, with the aim of providing management protocols applicable in the regional and supra-regional context.
The study will focus in particular on Ailanthus altissima and on the so-called “Japanese knotweed”, a group of exotic species of the genus Reynoutria = Fallopia.
For A. altissima, the possibility of applying bio-control strategies based on fungal agents will be investigated.
Knotweeds are listed among the most dangerous invasive species in the world. Control strategies, based on the application of flexible management models, oriented by the actual auto-ecological needs of the species will be proposed, using a combined approach of phenology modeling, physiology and carbon sink-source relationships.
Project leader: Giovanni Emiliani
IPSP personnel: Sara Barberini, Roberto Danti, Gianni Della Rocca, Angela Frascella, Stefano Secci
Start: 30/01/2020
End: 29/01/2022