Annual report

2003

Conference on Mikania micrantha

On 28 October 2003, the WSSROC held the "The Harmful Effect and Field Management of Mikania micrantha"  conference at Hualien District Agricultural Improvement Station. The program of the conference consisted of three sessions with ten reports presented. In the “Biological and Ecological Character” session, reports on population genetic variation as well as ecophysiological, mophological and molecular character were presented. Models predicting field emergence of the seeds were provided. In the “Control and Management” session, speakers proposed methods of controlling M. micrantha chemically and biologically. The Taiwan Forestry Bureau introduced their efforts on the management of the notorious weed. Dr. Mou-Yen Chiang, the former president of the WSSROC, then made a further discussion on the impacts and ecology of exotic plants in Taiwan. In the final session, not only the spreading and the monitoring program in Taiwan, but also the spreading and the harmful effects of M. micrantha in the world were discussed. The 150-person engaged conference was organized by WSSROC, HDAIS, and Taiwan Forestry Bureau.

Website of the WSSROC

The website of the WSSROC in formal (Big-5) Chinese was established in 2000. Besides the general information of the Society, news notes are published exclusively online. The journal of the Society, “Weed Science Bulletin”, is published both in print version and in electronic format. Special topics, such as weed identification, as well as Mikania micrantha pages have been added to the website. An English page was also created in September this year. The url of the society’s website is: http://wssroc.agron.ntu.edu.tw/