War on weeds
UC Davis Weed Science Program fights to tame invasive plants
No matter your place, profession or political persuasion, on one thing we can all agree: Weeds are nasty.
They destroy ecosystems, threaten wildlife, choke waterways, trigger allergies, create fire and safety hazards, affect crop and livestock production, increase the cost of food, reduce property values and even raise our taxes to cover the cost of control.
“Weeds affect every aspect of our life, no matter where we live,” says Cooperative Extension (CE) Specialist Joe DiTomaso, editor-in-chief for Invasive Plant Science and Management and director of the UC Weed Research and Information Center. “We tend to think of weeds as just pests in our garden, but their affect is insidious and widespread.”
The good news is that weeds face a worthy foe in the UC Davis Weed Science Program, housed in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and considered one of the strongest program of its kind in the nation. With its expert faculty, extensive outreach and strong affiliations, the Weed Science Program attacks weeds and the spread of invasive plants on all fronts. Its work addresses the needs of everyone from backyard gardeners to growers to foresters to ranchers to regulators to urban planners and beyond, because when it comes to fighting weeds, we’re all in it together. Weeds and other invasive plants don’t recognize boundaries. Left unchecked, they gobble up the land, sun, food and water other plants need to help themselves and our planet survive.
