Ecological restoration is needed to mitigate losses to biodiversity. Restoration success is enhanced through the use of native plant materials that are genetically diverse and locally adapted. Seed transfer zones have been developed to delineate geographic areas where native seed can be collected and distributed with reduced risk of maladaptation....
Drosophila suzukii is a global and economically significant pest of berries and other soft fruits. This insect can survive and reproduce under a wide variety of environmental conditions and with a substantial number of cultivated and wild hosts. Management of D. suzukii is commonly done with chemical control strategies. However,...
The hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae: Adelges tsugae; HWA) is an invasive and damaging pest on hemlock in eastern North America. HWA is native to the Pacific Northwest, where it does not damage hemlock. In support of classical biological control of HWA in eastern North America, abundances of native predators...
Pheromones are chemical cues produced by organisms that affect the behavior and/or physiology of conspecifics. The orchestration of reproductive behaviors in many animals depends on the expression of sex pheromones. In insects, intraspecific variation in sex pheromone expression is commonly observed and often influences social interactions between individuals. To what...
Modeling and analyzing the combined effects of disease and population dynamics
is important in understanding the effects of mechanisms such as pathogen transmission
and direct competition between host species on the distribution and abundance of different
species in an ecological community. Mathematical analysis of such models in a
spatially explicit...
Epichloë typhina (Ascomycetes: Clavicipitaceae) is an endophytic fungus that
infects perennial Pooid grasses and is the causal agent of choke disease. It is endemic
to Europe and was inadvertently introduced into orchardgrass seed production fields in
western Oregon. Choke disease, which was first recorded in Oregon in 1996, currently
infects...
The hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae, is causing widespread mortality of eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, in the eastern United States. In the West, A. tsugae causes negligible damage to western hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla. Host tolerance traits and presence of endemic predators may be contributing to the relative tolerance of western...