Brooms: Managing An Invasive Alien Species

An instructional video in three parts. 45 minutes. VHS format. $25. To order or for more information visit www.ecovisions.org/video.html or email leif@xenob.com.

Once popular garden ornamentals, brooms have become reviled wildland weeds covering millions of acres in the west. Outcompeting native species, altering succession and costing our economy millions of dollars a year, brooms pose real challenges for land managers. They also offer sober lessons about the risks of introducing species.

This video examines five broom species: Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), French broom (Genista monspessulana), Portuguese broom (Cytisus striatus), Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), and gorse (Ulex europaea). See why these plants are considered invasive, and how to identify them. Then learn what people are doing to reduce their presence and arrest their spread. Full of practical information for land managers, this program also invites everyone to help protect and restore the unique natural heritage of the American West.

Video Contents:

Part 1. BACKGROUND AND BIOLOGY

Introduction, Impacts ... 00:10

I.D. and Life Cycle... 08:30

Part 2. CONTROL METHODS

Safety, Prevention, Monitoring ... 13:30

Manual control, Flaming, Mulching ... 15:45

Mechanical and Chemical control ... 21:30

Prescribed burning, Biological control ... 28:00

Conclusion, Credits ... 32:45

Part 3. VOLUNTEERS; THE BACKBONE OF RESTORATION

Introduction by Jack Hanna of Animal Adventures ... 35:00

Testimonies from the front ... 36:00

Running a volunteer program ... 42:00

End ... 45:00

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