“The spiky, painful and nuisance-causing plants have been plaguing Boise bicycle riders for years. But a new collaboration between Boise State University and City Hall aims to rid Idaho’s capital of puncturevine — commonly known as goathead — once and for all.
This summer, a team of researchers at Boise State University plans to unveil a hot-spot map of where the invasive species is most prevalent in the city to bolster efforts to eradicate it.
Trevor Caughlin, a biology professor at Boise State, told the Idaho Statesman that the study, which began in 2020, had an interesting finding: The areas of the city with the most goathead plants were correlated to areas with lower property values.
“The strongest predictor of where (a) goathead is in Boise is property value,” Caughlin said. “That finding for us really raised some interesting questions about how goatheads might intersect with transportation equity here.”
Ian Max Stevenson
Fri, May 12, 2023 at 4:00 AM MDT·4 min read
The spiky, painful and nuisance-causing plants have been plaguing Boise bicycle riders for years. But a new collaboration between Boise State University and City Hall aims to rid Idaho’s capital of puncturevine — commonly known as goathead — once and for all.
This summer, a team of researchers at Boise State University plans to unveil a hot-spot map of where the invasive species is most prevalent in the city to bolster efforts to eradicate it.
Trevor Caughlin, a biology professor at Boise State, told the Idaho Statesman that the study, which began in 2020, had an interesting finding: The areas of the city with the most goathead plants were correlated to areas with lower property values.
“The strongest predictor of where (a) goathead is in Boise is property value,” Caughlin said. “That finding for us really raised some interesting questions about how goatheads might intersect with transportation equity here.”
Caughlin said that it’s possible marginalized communities are affected by goatheads more, and “might not have the resources to repair punctured bike tires.”
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau has previously shown that poorer Americans are more likely to bike or walk to work than wealthier people.
“Because it’s a comprehensive, citywide map, we’re hoping that it can direct control efforts maybe a little bit more equitably to all of the parts of the city,” Caughlin said.
Caughlin said the map is expected to be finished by early June. The Boise City Council on Tuesday allocated $56,000 of Open Space and Clean Water levy funds to complete the project.”
Read the full article from the Idaho Statesman here!