Chemical methods involve the use of pesticides to manage roadside vegetation and insects. Cultural methods include the preparation and planting of areas with desirable species and other activities that would be expected to enhance soil productivity and promote more desirable plant communities. Often, such activities as mowing and application of herbicides may be used to promote growth of desirable species and, technically, could be considered as cultural methods. However, delineation between chemical and mechanical methods for weed control and chemical and mechanical treatments to enhance plant growth could be extremely difficult. For that reason, a narrower view of cultural methods is being used throughout this study.
Biological methods are limited to the use of a species-specific insect or disease.
Biological treatments would be used when they would be appropriate under the constraints and restrictions of the selected pest management alternative. In terms of specific management techniques, mechanical treatments could be expected to have the greatest potential to impact soils, particularly if grading were used to reconfigure the roadside vegetation patterns. The repeated use of wheeled equipment for mechanical treatments, particularly with wet soil conditions, could cause soil compaction and inhibit the natural improvement process. Some chemical treatments could impact soils directly if application to susceptible plants left the soil exposed. Biological and cultural management techniques would be expected to maintain or enhance the stability of soils on slopes once establishment of desirable, competitive plant communities has been achieved.