US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
Short Description of Funding Opportunity
ERDC seeks applications for: evaluation of biological control for Arundo donax in southern California. There is potential for at least two distinct projects to arise from this opportunity, including determination of optimal release and monitoring strategies for A. donax biological controls, and evaluation of the impact of biological control on A. donax water-use efficiency, growth, and biomass allocation.
Background
Giant cane is a large (4-8m tall) perennial grass native to western Asia and likely introduced into North America from Spain in the early 1500s, but now is widespread with considerable capacity for expansion in North America (Figure 1; Moran and Goolsby 2022). Reproduction is solely clonal in the US and occurs through extensive rhizome networks or fragmentation. Large knotty rhizomes form underground masses up to three feet thick and provide a source of regrowth following management. Giant cane infests disturbed habitats near water and is particularly harmful in arid environments where it outcompetes other species and has extremely high water-use (Figure 2) (Seawright et al. 2009, Racelis et al. 2012, Goolsby et al. 2016). In fact, giant cane was estimated to transpire 56,200 acre-feet of water per year on the Santa Ana River alone, which equates to serving approximately 190,000 people in an area known for droughts and at a potential municipal cost of $25M in lost water (Iverson 1993).
Costs of giant cane management near Los Angeles can exceed $250K per acre, due to the effort required for repeated herbicide applications, then subsequent biomass and sediment management. Giant cane infestations have reduced the channel conveyance capacity of the Los Angeles River (at the Glendale neighborhood) from a 25-year storm event to a 2-year storm event where it impacts over 6000 people and risks $1B in property value. There is interest in using biological control as a 3 of 15 sustaining management tool for giant cane in California, but a lack of information about whether agents could be used under the conditions present in project areas has prevented its widespread implementation.
Two biological control agents are approved to manage giant cane in California (Figure 3): Tetramesa romana, the Arundo gall wasp, and Rhizaspidiotus donacis, the Arundo armored scale (CAL-IPC 2020). Both agents are established in the US and have been used to successfully control giant cane infestations in Texas (Goolsby et al. 2014, Goolsby et al. 2016). Additional releases and control monitoring is ongoing in northern California but, to date, there is insufficient data to inform their use in Southern California. It has been suggested that biological control of giant cane will be most successful in areas with sufficient warming days (Marshall et al. 2018). A previous assessment found Ventura/ Oxnard, CA to have relatively low number of warming days compared to locations in south Texas where control has been successful, but other warmer locations in California, such as parts of Los Angeles County, may be better suited for a biological control program.
Please see the attached Project Announcement for more information.
Deadline: Phase I announcement will be open to receive statements of interest continuously until 2:00 PM/Central Time (CT), 14 March 2025, at which point all statements of interest must be received.
If invited to Phase II, full proposal applications will be due at 2:00 PM/Central Time (CT), 14 April 2025.
Eligibility
This opportunity is restricted to non-federal partners of the Californian Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU). Please see the Project Announcement attached below for more information about eligibility.
Agency Contact: Stacy Thurman (Stacy.D.Thurman@usace.army.mil)
Attached Files:
Project Announcement