Controlling Purple Jewelweed (Impatiens glandulifera): Assessment of Feasibility and Costs

Abstract

We experimentally tested the feasibility of a control campaign of purple jewelweed (Impatiens glandulifera), an exotic invasive species in Europe and North America. We evaluated the amount of time and money required to control the plant along riverbanks, with particular attention paid to the recovery of riparian vegetation following hand pulling and bagging. Work time was directly and significantly related to stem density and fresh biomass of the invader, but the relationship was stronger for density. Density and biomass were strongly reduced by the first hand-pulling operation from a mean of 45 to 2 stems m−2 and from a mean of 0.95 kg m−2 to nearly zero, a good performance but not enough to negate the need for a second hand pulling later in the summer. A single hand pulling significantly reduced the cover of purple jewelweed from to 30% to 7%. Riparian vegetation disturbed by the first hand pulling largely recovered during the following 30 d. Expressed over an area of 1 ha, the total amount of time required to control purple jewelweed is 1,400 work hours over 2 yr, or a minimum investment of Can$21,000 (US$17,000). Although controlling a well-established purple jewelweed population is expensive, to properly evaluate the benefits, we must also consider the costs of soil erosion caused by this species.