Multi-year landscape-scale efficacy analysis of fluridone treatment of invasive submerged aquatic vegetation in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

Abstract

AbstractInvasive aquatic macrophytes are a major threat to estuarine ecosystems globally, posing difficult control challenges for resource managers. This study examined the efficacy of a fluridone treatment program to control invasive submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). We leveraged four datasets to examine efficacy of fluridone treatment in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, a freshwater tidal estuary in California, from 2014 to 2018. Annual SAV coverage maps derived from spectroscopy data were used in conjunction with fluridone application data and water current speed predicted by a 3-D hydrodynamic model of the study system. Our objective was to determine if the probability of SAV occurrence in treated sites was significantly different from untreated sites. We examined whether efficacy was influenced by the amount of herbicide applied at a site, the local current speed, and the treatment history of the site. We found that treatment efficacy was positively associated with the amount of herbicide applied per unit area, but this effect was mediated by a negative association with current speed. The efficacy of treatment did not improve when a site was treated for multiple consecutive years. Finally, we did not detect legacy effects one year after cessation of treatment. Our results suggest the need for careful selection of treatment sites to ensure that the amount of fluridone applied is likely to have significant impact given local current speeds. Our study underscores the need for development of additional treatment methodologies for hydrologically dynamic systems such as estuaries, particularly when control is needed year-round and for multiple years.