{"id":59489,"date":"2014-10-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-lsu-researchers-impact-of-invasive-species-varies-with-latitude-highlighting-need-for-biogeographic-perspective-on-invasions\/"},"modified":"2014-10-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T00:00:00","slug":"uri-lsu-researchers-impact-of-invasive-species-varies-with-latitude-highlighting-need-for-biogeographic-perspective-on-invasions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/10\/uri-lsu-researchers-impact-of-invasive-species-varies-with-latitude-highlighting-need-for-biogeographic-perspective-on-invasions\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站, LSU researchers: Impact of invasive species varies with latitude, highlighting need for biogeographic perspective on invasions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 October 23, 2014 \u2013 溏心vlog免费B站 ecologist Laura Meyerson and colleague Jim Cronin from Louisiana State University conducted an ambitious large-scale National Science Foundation funded study on native and invasive Phragmites australis (common reed) in North America and Europe. They found that the intensity of plant invasions by non-native species can vary considerably with changes in latitude.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWhen looking at a continental scale invasion in particular, we can\u2019t assume that the invasion is uniform across the region because of latitudinal differences in species interactions like herbivore pressure and resistance to herbivory,\u201d said Meyerson, 溏心vlog免费B站 associate professor of habitat restoration ecology. \u201cSome biogeographic regions may be more susceptible to invasions while others are more resistant. So, if we don\u2019t look at invasions at a macro scale, such as for an entire continent, we might misinterpret the invasion process and the strength of its impacts. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cOur continental-scale biogeographic perspective allowed us to have some insights into the heterogeneity of invasions that are not possible for smaller scale studies,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe research was published this month in the journal Ecology.<\/p>\n


\n\tIn their study of native and non-native sub-species of P. australis on both continents, they also found that herbivores feed upon the native Phragmites in North America at a much greater rate than on the invasive Phragmites. \u201cOur native Phragmites in North America is getting hammered by both native and introduced insects, whereas the invasive Phragmites in North America suffers far less herbivory than it does in its native Europe,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s partly because when invasives are introduced to a new place, they leave their enemies behind and can devote their resources to greater growth.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tTo determine whether differences occurred in resistance to herbivory, Meyerson and Cronin surveyed 13 patches of native Phragmites and 17 patches of non-native Phragmites along the East Coast from Canada to Florida. They conducted similar surveys of 21 patches of Phragmites in Europe from Norway to southern Portugal. (The native European species and the invasive non-native species in North America are the same lineage.)<\/p>\n


\n\tAt each site Meyerson and Cronin measured plant biomass and defenses against herbivores and quantified insect damage by galling, chewing and sucking (aphids) insects to measure the effects of herbivory on Phragmites fitness. They found that chewing and galling insects consumed a greater quantity of the native and non-native plants in the southern part of North America, while aphids were more prevalent at higher latitudes. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cInteractions between herbivores and native plants were much stronger than interactions between herbivores and invasive plants at lower latitudes, making the southern region more susceptible to invasive species,\u201d Cronin said. \u201cThis means that the invasive plants suffer less herbivory at lower latitudes than the native plants, giving the invasive Phragmites a greater opportunity to invade.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThis pattern weakens at higher latitudes suggesting that herbivores may be more important in limiting invasion success in the north,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n


\n\tBased on their results, Meyerson and Cronin believe that efforts to identify an insect that could be used as an agent of biocontrol for the invasive Phragmites may do more damage to the native species than to the invasive variety.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cBecause we found that all of the insects perform better on the native than on the invasive type, it suggests to us that if a biocontrol is released in North America, it\u2019s going to harm the native Phragmites more than the invasive,\u201d they said. \u201cOur data suggests that it would be ill advised to release a biocontrol agent against Phragmites.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPhoto submitted by Laura Meyerson.\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 October 23, 2014 \u2013 溏心vlog免费B站 ecologist Laura Meyerson and colleague Jim Cronin from Louisiana State University conducted an ambitious large-scale National Science Foundation funded study on native and invasive Phragmites australis (common reed) in North America and Europe. They found that the intensity of plant invasions by non-native species […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}