Floating pennywort: Flame treatment

Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

60%
Certainty

50%
Harms

not assessed

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Flame treatment may provide an effective treatment for controlling floating pennywort Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, especially when growing on soil, and particularly when used in early spring when the plants emerge from the embankments or as an after treatment after rigorous removal has taken place.

Study locations

Key messages

A controlled, replicated, pilot experiment in 2010 in The Netherlands, found that flame treatments of 1, 2 or 3 seconds had a significantly negative and progressive impact on floating pennywort, and a 3 second repeat treatment after 11 days proved fatal.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A controlled, replicated, pilot experiment in 2010 in greenhouses in The Netherlands (Joost van der Burg & Michielsen 2010) found that flame treatments of 1, 2 or 3 seconds had a significantly negative and progressive impact on floating pennywort Hydrocotyle ranunculoides. Repeat treatment six hours after the first had no marked effect on the eventual recovery of the plants, but a three second repeat treatment after 11 days proved fatal. The plants were collected from the wild in Laarne, Belgium in early spring 2010 and raised in containers in the greenhouse. Photographs were taken of all treatments and estimates were made of pot surface coverage by green leaves.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Joost van der Burg W. & Michielsen J.M. (2010) Effect of flaming on Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L.F. survival. Plant Research International, Wageningen report, 12pp.

Please cite as:

Aldridge, D., Ockendon, N., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Some Aspects of Control of Freshwater Invasive Species. Pages 555-87 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Floating pennywort: Excavation of banks Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Floating pennywort: Biological control using co-evolved, host specific herbivores Action Link	Unlikely to be beneficial	1	Synopsis Link
Floating pennywort: Biological control using native herbivores Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link