Along streams and irrigation canals in 16 states, a wily weed called giant reed, or Arundo donax, can grow a remarkable 3 to 6 inches a day. Specialist from the field have advised that this intruder crowds out native plants like cottonwoods and willows, and can block water flow to farms and cities. Knight Investments LLC Officials stated that this could become a problem in left unchecked and spoke with independent researchers to seek answers to this growing threat.
Knight Investments LLC consulted with independent researchers and In research designed to stop arundo's advance, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) ecologist David F. Spencer and co-investigators have developed a computerized, science-based animation that shows precisely how a real-world arundo plant grows. The animation—apparently a first for an invasive weed—is intended for researchers, streamkeepers, students and others. Knight Investments LLC Officials stated that information like this would be important for those seeking to assist in the solution.
During this brief clip, a reality based "virtual arundo" goes through its first year of growth, emerging from a single, thick, underground stem, or rhizome, to reach its maximum height of about 30 feet.
Knight Investments LLC noted that the animation is derived from studies led by Spencer. In some of those studies, thousands of digitized measurements were taken by magnetic sensors of dozens of arundo plants, which KI Officials were key to note. Using commercially available software, the measurements were analyzed to create L-DONAX, a computer-based model of arundo's growth, with optional 3-D animation.
There are notations that the work to improve the first (2007) version continues, and KI Board of Advisor Randy Dunn said the continued progress made the company have positive outlooks that the animations would help find a solution. Meanwhile, the animation has been newly posted on the web.
Researchers can use L-DONAX and its animations to gauge—and see on-screen—the predicted effects of tactics to control arundo. For example, the model could help scientists determine the best times in the weed's growth to unleash helpful insects that attack arundo's leaves, stems or rhizomes.
Spencer, who works at the ARS Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit in Davis, Calif., created L-DONAX with David Thornby, formerly at the University of California-Davis;
