Publications by authors named "U Schaffner"

Article Synopsis
  • Sawfly species specialized in feeding on Ranunculaceae plants can sequester specific furostanol saponins into their haemolymph, which may help them in defense against predators.
  • Research involving various chemical analyses and bioassays indicated that while one species predominantly fed on a non-nutritional stimulant from its host, both species showed differences in response to different plant fractions, with β-sitosterol identified as a nutritional stimulant.
  • The study found that the larvae of both sawfly species do not produce ecdysteroids endogenously but accumulate them from their diet, using them effectively as a deterrent against ant predators, especially in the initial days following simulated attacks.
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Biological control has been effectively exploited by mankind since 300 CE. By promoting the natural regulation of pests, weeds, and diseases, it produces societal benefits at the food-environment-health nexus. Here we scrutinize biological control endeavours and their social-ecological outcomes through a holistic 'One-Health' lens, recognizing that the health of humans, animals, plants, and the wider environment are linked and interdependent.

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Ethiopia is among the world's poorest nations, and its economy is growing extremely slowly; thus, the government's budget to manage environmental amenities is not always sufficient. Thus, for the provision of environmental management services such as the eradication of , the participation of local households and other stakeholders is crucial. This study is therefore initiated with the objective of assessing rural households' demands for mitigating invasion in the Afar Region of Ethiopia.

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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.

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Outcomes of weed biological control projects are highly variable, but a mechanistic understanding of how top-down and bottom-up factors influence the success of weed biological control is often lacking. We grew Rumex obtusifolius, the most prominent native weed in European grasslands, in the presence and absence of competition from the grass Lolium perenne and subjected it to herbivory through targeted inoculation with root-boring Pyropteron spp. To explore whether the interactive effects of competition and inundative biological control were size-dependent, R.

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