International Broom Initiative – California Invasive Plant Council

Background |
Reports and Presentations |
IBI Endorsements |
Related Links

Background

Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) in the Sierra foothills

Photo courtesy El Dorado Dept. of Agriculture

The International Broom Initiative (IBI) formed in 2000 to support cooperation in developing effective biological control agents for brooms and gorse. These woody legumes are a serious ecological and economic problem in California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They invade and degrade coastal and mountain ecosystems, create a dangerous source of fuel for wildfire, and inhibit forest regeneration in logged timberlands.

The extensive host-specificity testing necessary to screen biocontrol agents requires significant resources, and IBI seeks to capitalize on economies of scale by researching biocontrol agents for multiple related invasive plant species and for use in multiple locations.

Through IBI, scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service laboratory in Albany, California have developed a working relationship with Australian researchers already conducting broom biocontrols research in France, as well as with state biocontrol experts in the California Department of Food & Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Since 2003, The Albany lab has received partial funding in its budget to support research of broom biocontrols. Cal-IPC continues to work to maintain and increase this funding.

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Reports and Presentations

FY 2007 Broom Biocontrol Funding Request

International Broom Initiative Report 2005-2006

A search in Spain and Portugal for potential biocontrol agents for gorse (Ulex europaeus europaeus L.) in Hawaii. Funded by Parker Ranch, Inc., Hawaii, USA. Conducted by CSIRO Entomology. Compiled by Dr. Andy Sheppard. 2004.

IBI Project. Foreign exploration and host specificity testing of biological control agents of French broom in California, Phase 2. 2002-2003.

Foreign exploration and host specificity testing of biological control agents of French broom in California – January 2002

2000 CABI Annual Report – Investigations on potential biological control agents of Scotch broom, Cytisus scoparius

Selection and testing of biological control agents for control of French broom Genista monspessulana (L.) L. Johnson – A final report for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, ODA project 801 GR. 2000.

1999 CABI Annual Report – Investigations on potential biological control agents of Scotch Broom, Cytisus scoparius, January-December 1999

Different fates of island brooms: contrasting evolution in Adenocarpus, Genista, and Teline (Genisteae, Fabaceae) in the Canary Islands and Madeira. Diana M. Percy and Quentin C. B. Cronk. 2002.

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IBI Endorsements (collected Summer 2002-03)

Help make the case for funding the development of broom biocontrols by adding your organization’s endorsement. See the sample letter (Word document format) with instructions.

State Agencies:

California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
California Department of Parks & Recreation

National/State NGOs:

California Cattlemen’s Association
California Farm Bureau Federation [pending]
California Forest Pest Council
California Invasive Plant Council
California Native Plant Society
California Society for Ecological Restoration
Ducks Unlimited
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
The Mule Deer Foundation
The Nature Conservancy Invasive Species Initiative
The Nature Conservancy of Oregon

Counties:

Calaveras County Board of Supervisors
California Native Plant Society, Monterey Bay Chapter
City of Fort Bragg
Claremont Canyon Conservancy
Del Norte County Department of Agriculture
Fort Bragg Fire Protection Authority
Glenn County Department of Agriculture
Lake County Department of Agriculture
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
Mendocino County Department of Agriculture
Mendocino County Resource Conservation District
Monterey County Agricultural Commission
Napa County Department of Agriculture
Plumas-Sierra Counties Department of Agriculture
San Diego County Department of Agriculture
Santa Barbara County Department of Agriculture
Sonoma County Office of the Agricultural Commissioner
Tuolumne/Calaveras Firesafe Council

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