scholarly journals Do Cultivars of Native Plants Support Insect Herbivores?

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 596-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily C. Baisden ◽  
Douglas W. Tallamy ◽  
Desiree L. Narango ◽  
Eileen Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Fruit Size ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Insect Herbivores ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
The Impact

Native plants are becoming widely used in built landscapes to help mitigate the loss of biodiversity caused by urbanization. The primary advantage of native plant species over introduced ornamentals is their ability to support the development of the insects that fuel vertebrate food webs as well as specialist pollinators. The horticultural industry has introduced many cultivars of native plants to improve their aesthetic value and disease resistance, but there has been little work that measures the impact of these genetic changes on insect herbivores and pollinators. Here we measure how six desirable traits in native woody plant cultivars (leaf color, variegation, fall color, habit, disease resistance, and fruit size) compare with their wild types in terms of their ability to support insect herbivore development, abundance, and species richness. Using a common garden experiment, we quantified the abundance and diversity of insect herbivores using each species and its cultivars for growth and development over a 2-year period, as well as cumulative feed damage over the entire season. We also conducted feeding tests with evergreen bagworm (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis) to measure the preference of hatchling caterpillars for cultivars vs. straight species. We found that cultivars that had leaves altered from green to red, blue, or purple deterred insect feeding in all three experiments, a preference for variegated cultivars in one of our three experiments, but no consistent pattern of use among the species and cultivars chosen for other traits. These results suggest that the usefulness of native cultivars in restoring insect-driven food webs depends on the cultivar trait that has been selected.

Interactions between invasive plants and heavy metal stresses: a review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Li ◽  
Zhanrui Leng ◽  
Yueming Wu ◽  
Yizhou Du ◽  
Zhicong Dai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Escape Behavior ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Anthropogenic Contamination ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Global changes have altered the distribution pattern of the plant communities, including invasive species. Anthropogenic contamination may reduce native plant resistance to the invasive species. Thus, the focus of the current review is on the contaminant biogeochemical behavior among native plants, invasive species and the soil within the plant-soil ecosystem to improve our understanding of the interactions between invasive plants and environmental stressors. Our studies together with synthesis of the literature showed that a) the impacts of invasive species on environmental stress were heterogeneous, b) the size of the impact was variable, and c) the influence types were multidirectional even within the same impact type. However, invasive plants showed self-protective mechanisms when exposed to heavy metals (HMs) and provided either positive or negative influence on the bioavailability and toxicity of HMs. On the other hand, HMs may favor plant invasion due to the widespread higher tolerance of invasive plants to HMS together with the “escape behavior” of native plants when exposed to toxic HM pollution. However, there has been no consensus on whether elemental compositions of invasive plants are different from the natives in the polluted regions. A quantitative research comparing plant, litter and soil contaminant contents between native plants and the invaders in a global context is an indispensable research focus in the future.

scholarly journals Are declines in insects and insectivorous birds related?

The Condor ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas W Tallamy ◽  
W Gregory Shriver
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Insect Herbivores ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Insectivorous Birds ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Host Plant Specialization ◽  
Scale Population

Abstract A flurry of recently published studies indicates that both insects and birds have experienced wide-scale population declines in the last several decades. Curiously, whether insect and bird declines are causally linked has received little empirical attention. Here, we hypothesize that insect declines are an important factor contributing to the decline of insectivorous birds. We further suggest that insect populations essential to insectivorous birds decline whenever non-native lumber, ornamental, or invasive plant species replace native plant communities. We support our hypothesis by reviewing studies that show (1) due to host plant specialization, insect herbivores typically do poorly on non-native plants; (2) birds are often food limited; (3) populations of insectivorous bird species fluctuate with the supply of essential insect prey; (4) not all arthropod prey support bird reproduction equally well; and (5) terrestrial birds for which insects are an essential source of food have declined by 2.9 billion individuals over the last 50 years, while terrestrial birds that do not depend on insects during their life history have gained by 26.2 million individuals, a 111-fold difference. Understanding the consequences of insect declines, particularly as they affect charismatic animals like birds, may motivate land managers, homeowners, and restoration ecologists to take actions that reverse these declines by favoring the native plant species that support insect herbivores most productively.

Seed dispersal interactions promoting plant invasions.

2020 ◽  
pp. 90-104
Author(s):  
M. Celeste Díaz Vélez ◽  
Ana E. Ferreras ◽  
Valeria Paiaro
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Seedling Establishment ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Invasional Meltdown ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Origin Life

Abstract Animal dispersers are essential for many non-native plants since they facilitate seed movement and might promote seed germination and seedling establishment, thereby increasing their chances of invasion. This chapter reviews the published literature on seed dispersal of non-native plant species by native and/or non-native animals. The following questions are addressed: (i) Are interactions between non-native plants and their animal dispersers evenly studied worldwide? (ii) Which are the distinctive traits (i.e. geographical origin, life form, dispersal strategy and propagule traits) of non-native plants that are dispersed by animals? (iii) Which are the most studied groups of dispersers of non-native plants around the world? (iv) Does the literature provide evidence for the Invasional Meltdown Hypothesis (non-native plant-non-native disperser facilitation)? (v) What is the role of animal dispersers at different stages of the non-native plant regeneration process? Our dataset of 204 articles indicates that geographical distribution of the studies was highly heterogeneous among continents, with the highest number coming from North America and the lowest from Asia and Central America. Most of the non-native plants involved in dispersal studies were woody species from Asia with fleshy fruits dispersed by endozoochory. More than the half of the animal dispersal agents noted were birds, followed by mammals, ants and reptiles. The dominance of bird-dispersal interactions over other animal groups was consistent across geographical regions. Although most of the studies involved only native dispersers, interactions among non-native species were detected, providing support for the existence of invasional meltdown processes. Of the total number of reviewed articles reporting seed removal, 74% evaluated seed dispersal, but only a few studies included seed germination (35.3%), seedling establishment (5.4%) or seed predation (23.5%). Finally, we discuss some research biases and directions for future studies in the area.

scholarly journals Tests of Hexazinone and Tebuthiuron for Control of Exotic Plants in Kauai, Hawaii

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 576
Author(s):  
Wang ◽  
Awaya ◽  
Zhu ◽  
Motooka ◽  
Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Metrosideros Polymorpha ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Weed Species ◽  
Invasive Weed ◽  
Native Plant Species

Non-native plant species have become serious pests in Hawaii’s delicate island ecosystems. It is necessary to control invasive plants. The herbicides hexazinone and tebuthiuron were evaluated for defoliation efficacy to control several major invasive plants and for non-target effects on native plants at Site I in a rainforest at 1200 m elevation and Site II in a mesic area at 640 m elevation on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The invasive weed species in the sites included daisy fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus DC.), faya tree (Myrica faya Ait.), strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum Sabine), banana passion fruit (Passiflora mollissima Bailey), vaseygrass (Paspalum urvillei Steud.), and highbush blackberry (Rubus argutus Link. 1822). Native plants included ohia lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha Gaudich.), naupaka (Scaevola cerasifolia Labill.), pilo (Hedyotis mannii), hona (Urera glabra (Hook. & Arn.)), aalii (Dodonaea viscosa Jacq.), and amau (Sadleria sp.). The results showed that broadcast applications of hexazinone granules and tebuthiuron pellets were effective on some of those invasive species. Herbicidal tolerance varied among the native species. For example, D. viscosa showed high tolerance to hexazinone. S. cerasifolia was susceptible to hexazinone, but not to tebuthiuron. The inconsistent defoliation of Sadleria sp. occurred among different applications rates of the two herbicides. M. polymorpha, particularly when it was small, could tolerate hexazinone and tebuthiuron. U. glabra was severely injured by the two herbicides. H. mannii was moderately tolerant to hexazinone, but fairly sensitive to tebuthiuron. The invasive loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) was highly tolerant to hexazinone, but was very sensitive to tebuthiuron. M. faya was very sensitive to hexazinone, but very tolerant to tebuthiuron. P. cattleyanum was sensitive to both herbicides. Six and nine months after hexazinone and tebuthiuron treatment, respectively, native plants were transplanted into the Sites to observe injury from residual herbicides. Approximately less than 10% mortality was observed for the out-planted native species three months after planting (MAP), indicating that the native species showed less injury in the early period of transplant. The mortality of the three endangered species Kauai hau kuahiwi (Hibiscadelphis distans), Kauai delissea (Delissea rhytidosperma H.Mann) and kawawaenohu (Alsinidendron lynchnoides), however, increased as the MAP increased. Overall, broadcast treatments of hexazinone and tebuthiuron at rates higher than 1 kg active ingredient per hectare would be problematic. The dissipation half-life values of hexazinone and tebuthiuron in the 1-15 cm layer of soils at the two sites were approximately 7 days and greater than 180 days, respectively.

scholarly journals Species diversity, composition and the regeneration potential of native plants at the Wainiveiota Mahogany Plantation, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Senilolia H. Tuiwawa ◽  
Gunnar Keppel
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Line Transect ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Regeneration Potential ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Fiji Islands ◽  
Lowland Rainforest ◽  
Over Time

Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) plantations cover a considerable area on the south-eastern parts of Viti Levu, Fiji. The understorey of these plantations often comprise a diverse, but undocumented, assemblage of native plant species. This study investigates the diversity, composition and regeneration potential of native plant species in the Wainiveiota mahogany plantation 40?50 years after establishment. Ten 10 m x 10 m plots were alternately placed at 10 m intervals perpendicular to a 200 m line transect. A total of 491 individual plants with dbh ≥ 1 cm, comprising 69 species, 51 genera and 34 families, were sampled. In addition to the exotic mahogany, there were 68 native (39 endemic, 24 indigenous and 5 identified to genus only) species recorded. Girronniera celtidifolia Gaud., Dillenia biflora (A.Gray) Martelli ex Dur. & Jacks and Barringtonia edulis Seem. had the highest recruitment and Endospermum macrophyllum (Muell.Arg.) Pax & Hoffm. was the dominant native species. Syzygium Gaertn. (Myrtaceae) was the most diverse genus and Myrtaceae the most diverse family. With 98% of the sapling recruitment consisting of native species, there is potential for re-establishment of a lowland rainforest dominated by native species over time.

scholarly journals Pre-Sowing Treatments Improve Germinability of South Texas Native Plant Seeds

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2545
Author(s):  
Kaitlynn Lavallee ◽  
Pushpa Gautam Soti ◽  
Hansapani Rodrigo ◽  
Rupesh Kariyat ◽  
Alexis Racelis
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Germination Rate ◽  
South Texas ◽  
Cold Stratification ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Plant Seeds ◽  
Wide Range

The incorporation of native plant species is central to restoration efforts, but this is often limited by both the availability of seeds and the relatively low viability and germination rates of commercially available seeds. Although pre-sowing treatments are commonly used to improve germination rates of seeds, the efficacy of these treatments is found to vary across species. In this study, we tested how four pre-sow treatments (physical scarification, acid scarification, cold stratification, and aerated hydropriming) affected the viability and seed germination rates of 12 commercially available plant species native to south Texas and commonly used in restoration efforts. Our results show that the viability of the seeds have a wide range, from 78% to 1.25%. Similarly, the total germination rate ranged from 62% to 0%. We found that pre-sowing treatments accelerated the germination rate in 9 of 12 plant species tested, but the effect varied by treatment. Collectively, our results identify various methods to achieve the best germination rates for native plants of south Texas, to help improve restoration efforts across the region.

The risk of exotic and native plants as hosts for four pest thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripinae)

2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 501-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.A. Schellhorn ◽  
R.V. Glatz ◽  
G.M. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Thrips Tabaci ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Thrips Species ◽  
Weed Hosts

AbstractInteractions among insect pests, crops and weeds are well recognised. In fact, the elimination of weed hosts outside of the crop is a common practice to control many insect-vectored viruses. However, little is known about interactions among insect pests, crops and native vegetation, and whether native plants may be used to revegetate areas where weed hosts have been eliminated as part of horticultural management regimes. We used the Northern Adelaide Plains horticultural region (South Australia, Australia) as a model system to study the potential of various plant taxa in hosting four pest thrips (three exotic, one native; Frankliniella occidentalis, F. schultzei, Thrips tabaci and T. imaginis) when located adjacent to, and distant from, horticultural crops. Flower funnels were used for standardised sampling of thrips on flowers from 19 exotic weed and 12 native plant species, representing 13 and three families, respectively. Flowers were sampled monthly over a year, and statistical analyses were performed to identify significant determinants of probability of thrips occurrence and density. Plant family was found to significantly influence both measures for each thrips species. In addition, crop proximity influenced the probability of occurrence for the two Frankliniella species (but only influenced density of the key pest F. occidentalis), and season influenced density of all four pest thrips. All native plant species tested had a low likelihood of hosting the three exotic thrips species. Overall, results suggest that judicious choice of surrounding vegetation has potential to be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) while increasing biodiversity conservation.

Survival of native plants of Hawkesbury Sandstone communities with additional nutrients: effect of plant age and habitat

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 141 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. P. Thomson ◽  
M. R. Leishman
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Run Off ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Disturbed Soils

Australian soils are naturally low in nutrient concentrations, particularly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Native plants are well adapted to low-nutrient soils, and can be adversely affected when exposed to higher concentrations of nutrients. The Hawkesbury Sandstone soils in northern Sydney are naturally low in nutrients, but often receive additional nutrient input from urban stormwater run-off. Increases in soil nutrients in urban bushland are associated with the presence of exotic species, and the decline in the diversity of native species. This study tested the hypothesis that high concentrations of nutrients, in particular P, in the disturbed soils of urban bushland, reduce survival of native plants. We examined the survival of native species under five different nutrient concentrations that are typical of nutrient-enriched urban bushland soil, in two glasshouse experiments. The experiments examined both survival of seedlings and survival of 6-month-old plants. We used native species that are adapted to both nutrient-poor and nutrient-rich soils. In general, the survival of native plants decreased with increasing nutrient concentrations. At soil total-P concentrations >200 mg kg–1, most plants died. Seedlings were more sensitive to added nutrients than the 6-month-old plants. Species that were from higher-nutrient soil had consistently higher survival than species from low-nutrient soils, under the nutrient addition treatments. These results suggest that at high soil nutrient concentrations typical of stormwater-affected urban bushland, native plant species of low-nutrient soils will be unable to survive. If ecological restoration works are to be done in such areas, replanting with more mature plants from naturally high-nutrient habitats is likely to be the most successful. However, restoration of these areas may have limited success and they are likely to remain dominated by exotic plant species.

scholarly journals Accumulation of As, Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn by Native Plants Growing in Soils Contaminated by Mining Environmental Liabilities in the Peruvian Andes

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Edith Cruzado-Tafur ◽  
Katarzyna Bierla ◽  
Lisard Torró ◽  
Joanna Szpunar
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Metal Mobility ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Environmental Liabilities ◽  
Peruvian Andes ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Mining Soils

The capability of native plant species grown in polluted post-mining soils to accumulate metals was evaluated in view of their possible suitability for phytoremediation. The study areas included two environmental liabilities in the Cajamarca region in the Peruvian Andes. The content of As, Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn was determined in individual plant organs and correlated with soil characteristics. The degree of the pollution depended on the metal with results ranging from uncontaminated (Cd) to moderately (Zn), strongly (As, Cu), and extremely contaminated (Pb, Ag) soils. The metals were mainly present in the fractions with limited metal mobility. The bioaccumulation of the metals in plants as well the translocation into overground organs was determined. Out of the 21 plants evaluated, Pernettya prostrata and Gaultheria glomerate were suitable for Zn, and Gaultheria glomerata and Festuca sp. for Cd, phytostabilization. The native species applicable for Cd phytoremediation were Ageratina glechonophylla, Bejaria sp., whereas Pernettya prostrata Achyrocline alata,Ageratina fastigiate, Baccharis alnifolia, Calceolaria tetragona, Arenaria digyna, Hypericum laricifolium, Brachyotum radula, and Nicotiana thyrsiflora were suitable for both Cd and Zn. None of the studied plants appeared to be suitable for phytoremediation of Pb, Cu, As and Ag.

scholarly journals Native and non-native plants attract diverse bees to urban gardens in California

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Frankie ◽  
Ingrid Feng ◽  
Robbin Thorp ◽  
Jaime Pawelek ◽  
Marissa Helene Chase ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Ornamental Plants ◽  
Geographic Origin ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Native Bee ◽  
The University

Bees visit native and non-native plant species for pollen and nectar resources in urban, agricultural, and wildland environments. Results of an extensive survey of bee-flower collection records from 10 California cities from 2005-2011 were used to examine host-plant records of native and non-native ornamental plants to diverse native and non-native bee species; five cities were from northern California and five were from southern California. A total of 7,659 bees and their floral host plants were examined. Of these, 179 were Apis mellifera and 7,390 were non-Apis. Only four other non-native species (all in Megachilidae) were recorded in the survey, and together they accounted for 402 individuals. These bees have been databased in preparation for deposition in the University of California-Berkeley Essig Museum of Entomology. We identified 229 bee species and 42 genera visiting native and non-native plant types in urban areas. Of the 229 species, 71 bee species were collected from only native plants; 52 were collected from only non-native host plants; and 106 were collected from both types of plants. Native bee species were common on native plants and non-native plants, but there were substantially more non-native bee species visiting non-native plants compared to native plants. Flowering periods in months were similar for both types of plants, but non-natives tended to flower later in the year. We propose that using native and non-native plants improves habitat gardening by increasing opportunities for attracting a richer diversity of bee species and for longer periods. Knowing basic bee-flower relationships in an area is key to planning a bee habitat garden with a variety of plant types, regardless of their geographic origin. 

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