Abstract: Dispersal interception of Solanum rostratum is crucial for controlling its invasion into new habitats and large-scale spread. We used a wind tunnel simulation to determine the wind velocity required for stem breakage of the plant according to assumed dispersal characteristics of tumbleweed. An experiment following randomized block design was conducted to monitor the effect of fences on dispersal interception. We found that the mature plants were not broken when the wind speed was 14 m·s^-1. In the enclosed area, 99.1% of plants were not broken by wind, and 0.9% were artificially broken during fence construction. The fruits did not drop from the plant in the field, and so we did not find fruits passing through mesh holes of the fence by wind. Different fences with small (3 cm×3 cm), medium (6 cm×6 cm), large (12 cm×12 cm) and extra-large (20 cm×40 cm) mesh hole did not affect interception efficiency. Half of the plants were able to climb over 40 cm high fence, while the plants were unable to climb over 70 cm high fence. Therefore, S. rostratum is not a typical tumbleweed, and its stem can not be broken by wind, but could be broken by animals or people trampling. The long-distance dispersal of S. rostratum can be controlled effectively by preventing contact with livestock and human disturbance.

Key words: tumbleweed plant, mesh hole of fence, wind tunnel simulation, control test, fence height