Pilosella officinarum is a serious adventive weed in New Zealand. It has also proven to be highly invasive in other countries. The areas infested are typically extensive rangelands for which expensive control measures would be hard to justify economically. However, it has been known for many years that species of this genus are particularly sensitive to the concentration of boron in the soil. The application of boron fertilisers is now a common practice to control P. officinarum infestations in the extensively grazed tussock grasslands in Central Otago. The farmers seek to exploit the differences in boron tolerance between P. officinarum and the exotic pasture species which farmers would like to establish in its place. However, there are large tracts of infested land for which the aim is the restoration of the native vegetation for water harvesting, aesthetic or conservation reasons. This study examines the effect of boron application (as ulexite) on the native species of the tussock grasslands flora. At the application rates recommended for P. officinarum control none of the native species was adversely affected by the added ulexite. Doubling the recommended application rates affected some but not all of the native species. The results suggest that the use of boron in this manner is unlikely to have any adverse effect on conservation values in tussock grassland, whether grazed or retired.

Pilosella officinarum是新西兰的一种严重的外来杂草。在其他国家，它也被证明具有高度的侵害性。受感染的地区通常是广阔的牧场，对于这些牧场而言，昂贵的控制措施难以在经济上证明其合理性。然而，多年来已知该属的物种对土壤中硼的浓度特别敏感。现在，在中奥塔哥中部广泛放牧的草丛草地上，施用硼肥已成为控制P. officinarum侵扰的普遍做法。农民们寻求利用之间的硼容忍差异P.良姜以及农民希望在其所在地建立的外来牧场物种。但是，有很多大片被侵染的土地，其目的是出于集水，美观或保护的目的恢复原生植被。这项研究检查了硼的施用（以方钠石形式）对草草原植物区系的本地物种的影响。在推荐用于药用野假单胞菌的施用量下，没有天然物种受到添加的方钠石的不利影响。建议的施用量加倍影响了部分而非全部原生物种。结果表明，以这种方式使用硼不可能对草丛牧场或退役的草丛草地的保护价值产生任何不利影响。