Invasive woody plants colinize natural areas and a exclude native plants. Unwanted woody plants out compete wanted palnts in ecosytem restoration projects. This project examines the effectiveness of a lopper/herbicide applictor to control invasive and other unwanted woody plants by appling herbicide to stems cut with the lopper. OBJECTIVES: The project will develop and evalaute a herbicide applicator attached to the handles of a lopper to apply herbide to stems cut with the lopper. The herbicide applicator is made of CPVC pipe and fittings that. The applicator will be tested on 10 invasive woody stemmed plants: Australian pine, Brazilian peper, melaleuca, Chinese tallow, Chinese wisteria, Chinaberry, camphor tree, Ardisia, golden bamboo, and mimosa. It will also be tested on red maple, wax myrtle, and sweet gum plants important to control for fuel reduction and ecosystem restoration. Data will be collected to evaluate the effectiveness and the effort required to use the device in field settings. APPROACH: Field plots will be established in different location in Florida where invasive plants exist. Invasive plants will be cut and herbicide applied using the herbicide applicator. Timed studies will be done to determin the effort required to cut and treat stems. Plants will be evaluated to detremine the effictiveness of the method to control target plants. Other unwanted woody stems plants will also be cut and treated. A pneumatic lopper will be evaluated to see if it will improve worker efficency and reduce worker fatique
