42 Nebraskaland • May 2020
It has also made its way into Colorado,
Utah and as far west as Oregon.
In Nebraska, garlic mustard is
becoming an increasing concern and
annoyance among land managers. It is
well established in eastern Nebraska
woodlands, and although infestations
are concentrated along the Missouri
River and its lower tributaries,
biologists have detected populations
as far west as Bassett on the Niobrara
River, Kearney on the Platte River and
Cambridge on the Republican River.
Mustard Advantage
"Garlic mustard is equipped with a special chemical
called sinigrin, which it releases by its roots into the soil,"
said Chance Brueggemann, a Northern Prairies Land Trust
biologist. "Sinigrin is toxic to many native plants and their
supporting mycorrhizal fungi."
Chance and Krista Lang, another NPLT biologist, have
been trying to control the infestation at Indian Cave State
Park's oak woodlands over several years.
When matured, one garlic mustard plant can produce
thousands of seeds, which readily hitchhike on animals that
brush up against it, hikers who get the seeds stuck on their
shoes and clothes, or on the tires of vehicles that collect mud
containing the seeds. According to Lang, garlic mustard can
Pulling garlic mustard by hand ensures removal of the seed
source and avoids the use of harmful chemicals.
Game and Parks biologists Russ Hamer, Kelly Corman, Bekah Jessen and Josh Kounovsky conduct a
prescribed burn to control garlic mustard at Basswood Ridge WMA in 2014.
