05-30-2013, 05:58 AM
I try to calmly remind myself & others that we all came here with the ideas that everything can be done just so...
AND I have volunteered on many crews, including guava clearing crews, and gone to many meeting, including the guava meetings. For someone new to this, the answers may be simple....which is why I call for those of you that have not done so,
VOLUNTEER IN A GUAVA CLEARING IN A HEAVILY INFESTED AREA.... this way you will KNOW what you are referring to...
Before any biocontrol was looked at, physical control was used, USING the YCC....and there were some very unintended consequences, including:
trampling the native undergrowth
introduction of invasive seed on work clothes, boots & equipment
injury to youth, esp ankle & leg injuries
displacement of native wildlife when work crew is in area (sometime a VERY detrimental side effect, esp for nesting birds
along with the very slow nature of hand clearing, as some of the newer members find out as they are here, you start with dreams of doing everything by hand, and the reality is that even 2 acres is not easy, and you hire machines to do the work you wanted to do by hand... at increased disturbance to the native nesting wildlife, which if you are in the lower elevations, is not a big deal...where this is being tested, it is the LAST NATIVE RESERVE for some of these species...
And though I love 'Google' it is not a scientific search, as Search Engine Optimization is done by many to get THEIR particular message up at the top of searches (it is always interesting to note who is near the top of searches)....and many of us do not wade down through the literature to do an exhaustive search...
The limited images of infestation from Brazil show leaves with gall, not forests of desecration...and even the scientific literature from Brazil indicated that this gall will cause leaf lose of vigor in LEAVES effected by gall, so the gall will effect the tree only at leaf level...slowing the tree growth, but no literature I have found states that it will do more...PLEASE if you have scientific literature that states otherwise...share....
AND I have volunteered on many crews, including guava clearing crews, and gone to many meeting, including the guava meetings. For someone new to this, the answers may be simple....which is why I call for those of you that have not done so,
VOLUNTEER IN A GUAVA CLEARING IN A HEAVILY INFESTED AREA.... this way you will KNOW what you are referring to...
Before any biocontrol was looked at, physical control was used, USING the YCC....and there were some very unintended consequences, including:
trampling the native undergrowth
introduction of invasive seed on work clothes, boots & equipment
injury to youth, esp ankle & leg injuries
displacement of native wildlife when work crew is in area (sometime a VERY detrimental side effect, esp for nesting birds
along with the very slow nature of hand clearing, as some of the newer members find out as they are here, you start with dreams of doing everything by hand, and the reality is that even 2 acres is not easy, and you hire machines to do the work you wanted to do by hand... at increased disturbance to the native nesting wildlife, which if you are in the lower elevations, is not a big deal...where this is being tested, it is the LAST NATIVE RESERVE for some of these species...
And though I love 'Google' it is not a scientific search, as Search Engine Optimization is done by many to get THEIR particular message up at the top of searches (it is always interesting to note who is near the top of searches)....and many of us do not wade down through the literature to do an exhaustive search...
The limited images of infestation from Brazil show leaves with gall, not forests of desecration...and even the scientific literature from Brazil indicated that this gall will cause leaf lose of vigor in LEAVES effected by gall, so the gall will effect the tree only at leaf level...slowing the tree growth, but no literature I have found states that it will do more...PLEASE if you have scientific literature that states otherwise...share....