A wide range of approaches has been used to manage the spread of invasive species, yet invaders continue to be a challenge to control. In some cases, management actions have no effect or may even inadvertently benefit the targeted invader. Here, we use the mid-20th century management of the Red Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta, in the US as a motivating case study to explore the conditions under which such wasted management effort may occur. Introduced in approximately 1940, the fire ant spread widely through the southeast US and became a problematic pest. Historically, fire ants were managed with broad-spectrum pesticides; unfortunately, these efforts were largely unsuccessful. One hypothesis suggests that, by also killing native ants, mass pesticide application reduced competitive burdens thereby enabling fire ants to invade more quickly than they would in the absence of management. We use a mechanistic competition model to demonstrate the landscape-level effects of such management. We explicitly model the extent and location of pesticide applications, showing that the same pesticide application can have a positive, neutral, or negative effect on the progress of an invasion, depending on where it is applied on the landscape with respect to the invasion front. When designing management, the target species is often considered alone; however, this work suggests that leveraging existing biotic interactions, specifically competition with native species, can increase the efficacy of management. Our model not only highlights the potential unintended consequences of ignoring biotic interactions, but also provides a framework for developing spatially explicit management strategies that take advantage of these biotic interactions to work smarter, not harder.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.2974 | DOI Listing |
Int J Mol Sci
January 2025
Integrative Agriculture Department, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates.
Fruits and vegetables (F&Vs) are essential in daily life and industrial production. These perishable produces are vulnerable to various biotic and abiotic stresses during their growth, postharvest storage, and handling. As the fruit detaches from the plant, these stresses become more intense.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
January 2025
National Key Laboratory of Smart Farm Technologies and Systems, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China.
Phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs) play a crucial role in regulating plant growth and development. However, studies on soybean PIFs are limited. Here, we identified 22 GmPIF genes from the soybean genome and classified the GmPIF proteins into 13 subfamilies based on amino acid sequence homology, secondary and tertiary structures, protein structure, and conserved motifs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrobiome
January 2025
State Key Laboratory for Crop Stress Resistance and High-Efficiency Production, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, People's Republic of China.
Background: Seed-associated microorganisms play crucial roles in maintaining plant health by providing nutrients and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, their functions in seed germination and disease resistance remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the microbial community assembly features and functional profiles of the spermosphere and endosphere microbiomes related to germinated and ungerminated seeds of Astragalus mongholicus by using amplicon and shotgun metagenome sequencing techniques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Biol Macromol
January 2025
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Food Science, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China. Electronic address:
In this experiment, the effects of different concentrations of cassava starch (CS) on the gel behavior of faba bean protein (FBP) were studied, focusing on the structural characteristics, gel characteristics and physical and chemical characteristics of the gel system. Specifically, with the increase of CS concentration from 4 % to 12 %, the morphology of the sample changed from fluid to gel solid. From the molecular structure, different concentrations of CS affected the secondary and tertiary structures of FBP protein, which made aromatic amino acids move to the surface of protein and promoted the transformation from α-helix to β-sheet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiotechnol Adv
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding/Key laboratory for Grain Crop Genetic Resources Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, PR China; Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address:
Sustainable agriculture practices are indispensable for achieving a hunger-free world, especially as the global population continues to expand. Biotic stresses, such as pathogens, insects, and pests, severely threaten global food security and crop productivity. Traditional chemical pesticides, while effective, can lead to environmental degradation and increase pest resistance over time.
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