California Agriculture

Worldwide, the majority of the plant species that are developing herbicide resistance are those that occur as weeds in agricultural environments, on roadsides and in other rights-of-way. In contrast, herbicide resistance is not nearly so common in weeds of natural areas or rangelands. A search of the International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds ( weedscience.com ) revealed no herbicide-resistant weeds (i.e., invasive nonnative species) listed for terrestrial natural areas anywhere in the world, and only two resistant weeds listed for aquatic areas, both of them in Florida. In pastures, 15 species worldwide have developed resistance, eight of which are considered primarily as agricultural weeds. Only two of those 15 are found in pastures within the United States, and none occurs in any Western state.