Calibration of an Herbicide Ballistic Technology (HBT) Helicopter Platform Targeting Miconia calvescens in Hawaii

• Published in: Invasive plant science and management 2013-04, Vol.6 (2), p.292-303
• Main Authors: Leary, James J. K, Gooding, Jeremy, Chapman, John, Radford, Adam, Mahnken, Brooke, Cox, Linda J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: conservation buffers; Cost control; encapsulation; equations; flight; Forest watersheds; forested watersheds; Hawaii; Herbicide Ballistic Technology; Herbicides; invasive species; islands; Miconia; Miconia calvescens; monitoring; mortality; Nonnative species; Plant species; Remote sensing; risk; Satellites; simulation models; technology transfer; topography; trees; triclopyr; Weed control
• ISSN: 1939-7291; 1939-747X; 1939-747X
• DOI: 10.1614/IPSM-D-12-00026.1

Miconia (Miconia calvescens DC.) is a tropical tree species from South and Central America that is a highly invasive colonizer of Hawaii's forested watersheds. Elimination of satellite populations is critical to an effective containment strategy, but extreme topography limits accessibility to remote populations by helicopter operations only. Herbicide Ballistic Technology (HBT) is a novel weed control tool designed to pneumatically deliver encapsulated herbicide projectiles. It is capable of accurately treating miconia satellites within a 30 m range in either horizontal or vertical trajectories. Efficacy was examined for the encapsulated herbicide projectiles, each containing 199.4 mg ae triclopyr, when applied to miconia in 5-unit increments. Experimental calibrations of the HBT platform were recorded on a Hughes 500-D helicopter while conducting surveillance operations from November 2010 through October 2011 on the islands of Maui and Kauai. Search efficiency (min ha−1; n  =  13, R2  =  0.933, P