Role of Food Industry in Promoting Healthy and Sustainable Diets.

Sustainable food systems are often defined by greenhouse gases, land use, effects on biodiversity, and water use. However, this approach does not recognize the reason food is produced-the provision of nutrients. Recently, the relationship between diets and sustainability has been recognized.

Native insect herbivory overwhelms context dependence to limit complex invasion dynamics of exotic weeds.

Understanding the role of consumers in density-dependent plant population dynamics is a long-standing goal in ecology. However, the generality of herbivory effects across heterogeneous landscapes is poorly understood due to the pervasive influence of context-dependence. We tested effects of native insect herbivory on the population dynamics of an exotic thistle, Cirsium vulgare, in a field experiment replicated across eight sites in eastern Nebraska.

Perennial Grain and Oilseed Crops.

Historically, agroecosystems have been designed to produce food. Modern societies now demand more from food systems-not only food, fuel, and fiber, but also a variety of ecosystem services. And although today's farming practices are producing unprecedented yields, they are also contributing to ecosystem problems such as soil erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, and water pollution.

Native insect herbivory limits population growth rate of a non-native thistle.

The influence of native fauna on non-native plant population growth, size, and distribution is not well documented. Previous studies have shown that native insects associated with tall thistle (Cirsium altissimum) also feed on the leaves, stems, and flower heads of the Eurasian congener C. vulgare, thus limiting individual plant performance.

Insect herbivory and propagule pressure influence Cirsium vulgare invasiveness across the landscape.

A current challenge in ecology is to better understand the magnitude, variation, and interaction in the factors that limit the invasiveness of exotic species. We conducted a factorial experiment involving herbivore manipulation (insecticide-in-water vs. water-only control) and seven densities of introduced nonnative Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle) seed.