Herbicide evaluation for the control of wild taro

Wild taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott), is an exotic, emergentperennial that has established in many shallow-waterwetlands throughout the southern United States. Althoughwild taro is a cultivated crop in many tropical and subtropicalareas of the world, its invasion in riverine and lacustrine wetlandsin the U.S. has resulted in the loss of habitat for nativeplant species. Once established, wild taro forms dense, monotypicstands that reduce the diversity of native vegetation, ashas occurred in Louisiana, Florida, and Texas (Akridge andFonteyn 1981, Simberloff et al. 1997). Akridge and Fonteyn(1981) reported that although wild taro is considered naturalizedin south-central Texas, its present dominance alongthe San Marcos River has altered the native vegetationalstructure and dynamics of this river system. Theobjective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of fouraquatic herbicides for control of wild taro.