Non-destructive environmental safety assessment of threatened and endangered plants in weed biological control.

Assessing the risk of nontarget attack (NTA) for federally listed threatened and endangered (T&E) plant species confamilial to invasive plants targeted for classical biological control, is one of the most important objectives of pre-release environmental safety assessments in the United States. However, evaluating potential NTA on T&E species is often complicated by restrictive agency requirements for obtaining propagules, or the ability to propagate plants and rear agents to the appropriate phenostages synchronously for testing, or both. Here, we assessed whether plant cues associated with a host recognition can be used for testing the attractiveness of four T&E and one rare single population plant species non-destructively for a candidate biocontrol agent.

Field Assessment of the Host Range of (Acari: Eriophyidae), a Biological Control Agent of the Tree of Heaven ().

Tree of heaven () is a fast-growing deciduous tree native to China, considered a serious invasive species worldwide, with several socio-economic and ecological impacts attributed to it. Chemical and mechanical methods have limited efficacy in its management, and biological controls may offer a suitable and sustainable option. (Ripka) is an eriophyid mite that has been recorded to attack tree of heaven in 13 European countries.

Host Range and Impact of , the First Potential Biological Control Agent for in North America and Australia.

We evaluated the potential of the European root-feeding moth as a biological control agent for the invasive weed (oxeye daisy) in North America and Australia. The taxonomic proximity of the ornamental Shasta daisy () to and its popularity in North America made finding sufficiently host-specific biological control agents a challenge. No-choice tests conducted with 74 non-target species revealed partial or complete larval development on 11 species.

A global review of target impact and direct nontarget effects of classical weed biological control.

Recent reviews show that classical weed biocontrol measures can be successful in reducing the negative impacts of invasive plant species, have impressive returns on investment, and contribute to slower rates of weed spread. Quantitative post-release monitoring is necessary to account for differences in biocontrol outcomes across spatial and temporal scales. Direct nontarget attack (NTA) incidence and severity are decreasing over time, and pre-release host-specificity tests can accurately predict NTA post-release, as long as the nontarget plant species are included in testing.

Feeding intensity of insect herbivores is associated more closely with key metabolite profiles than phylogenetic relatedness of their potential hosts.

Determinants of the host ranges of insect herbivores are important from an evolutionary perspective and also have implications for applications such as biological control. Although insect herbivore host ranges typically are phylogenetically constrained, herbivore preference and performance ultimately are determined by plant traits, including plant secondary metabolites. Where such traits are phylogenetically labile, insect hervivore host ranges are expected to be phylogenetically disjunct, reflecting phenotypic similarities rather than genetic relatedness among potential hosts.

Corrigendum: Geographic population structure in an outcrossing plant invasion after centuries of cultivation and recent founding events.

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Geographic population structure in an outcrossing plant invasion after centuries of cultivation and recent founding events.

Population structure and genetic diversity of invasions are the result of evolutionary processes such as natural selection, drift and founding events. Some invasions are also molded by specific human activities such as selection for cultivars and intentional introduction of desired phenotypes, which can lead to low genetic diversity in the resulting invasion. We investigated the population structure, diversity and origins of a species with both accidental and intentional introduction histories, as well as long-term selection as a cultivar.

Biological invasion of oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) in North America: Pre-adaptation, post-introduction evolution, or both?

Species may become invasive after introduction to a new range because phenotypic traits pre-adapt them to spread and become dominant. In addition, adaptation to novel selection pressures in the introduced range may further increase their potential to become invasive. The diploid Leucanthemum vulgare and the tetraploid L.

Two shoot-miners, Ceutorhynchus alliariae and Ceutorhynchus roberti, sharing the same fundamental niche on garlic mustard.

A combination of observational and experimental methods, in both the laboratory and field, were used to assess niche partitioning between Ceutorhynchus alliariae Brisout and C. roberti Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), two coexisting shoot-boring weevils on garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb.

Demographic models inform selection of biocontrol agents for garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata).

Nonindigenous invasive plants pose a major threat to natural communities worldwide. Biological control of weeds via selected introduction of their natural enemies can affect control over large spatial areas but also risk nontarget effects. To maximize effectiveness while minimizing risk, weed biocontrol programs should introduce the minimum number of host-specific natural enemies necessary to control an invasive nonindigenous plant.