Application of jute mattings to control growth of submerged macrophytes in a shallow clear-water pond

Abstract

The jute mattings of two different densities were tested to control growth of Elodea canadensis Michx. and Myriophyllum spicatum L. in the Velký Bolevecký pond (West Bohemia, Czechia) during fourteen months. Both jute densities prove to be effective, permeable and stayed intact for one year. Results showed significant interaction among species, jute density and date in both abundance and length of Elodea and Myriophyllum fragments. When tested separately, we found the significant difference between abundance of Elodea and Myriophyllum fragments on the jute mattings, among the sites, and in time, but not between the two jute densities. Elodea dominated the sites due to spread of fragments from mowing that continued at the pond. However, the fragment length of given species varied between the two jute densities. They might easier root, but it could be also explained by the variability of sampled quadrats. Fragment lengths of Elodea and Myriophyllum were also changing in time but the length did not significantly differ between the two species or among the sites. Although Elodea and Myriophyllum dominated the jute mattings by the end, their progress was slower than in control sites.