Biodiversity Commons^™

Crop Pests And Predators Exhibit Inconsistent Responses To Surrounding Landscape Composition, Daniel S. Karp, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Timothy D. Meehan, Emily A. Martin, Fabrice Declerck, Heather Grab, Claudio Gratton, Lauren Hunt, Ashley E. Larsen, Alejandra Martínez-Salinas, Megan E. O’Rourke, Adrien Rusch, Katja Poveda, Mattias Jonsson, Jay A. Rosenheim, Nancy A. Schellhorn, Teja Tscharntke, Stephen D. Wratten, Wei Zhang, Aaron L. Iverson, Lynn S. Adler, Matthias Albrecht, Audrey Alignier, Gina M. Angelella, Muhammad Zubair Anjum, Jacques Avelino, Péter Batáry, Johannes M. Baveco, Felix J. J. A. Bianchi, Klaus Birkhofer, David J. Gonthier

Entomology Faculty Publications

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop …

Coleopteran Communities Associated With Forests Invaded By Emerald Ash Borer, Matthew B. Savage, Lynne K. Rieske

Entomology Faculty Publications

Extensive ash mortality caused by the non-native emerald ash borer alters canopy structure and creates inputs of coarse woody debris as dead and dying ash fall to the forest floor; this affects habitat heterogeneity; resource availability; and exposure to predation and parasitism. As EAB-induced (emerald ash borer-induced) disturbance progresses the native arthropod associates of these forests may be irreversibly altered through loss of habitat; changing abiotic conditions and altered trophic interactions. We documented coleopteran communities associated with EAB-disturbed forests in a one-year study to evaluate the nature of these changes. Arthropods were collected via ethanol-baited traps on five sites with …

Dna Barcoding As A Tool For Species Discovery And Documentation In The Superfamily Ichneumonoidea, Sarah Meierotto

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Changes to traditional taxonomic methods to incorporate new technologies and methods have already improved the quality of species hypotheses, but more work can be done to improve the speed of new species documentation. The mitochondrial COI DNA barcode has been successfully used to identify species with high accuracy since the early 2000s, and has been used in conjunction with morphological examinations and other DNA markers to discover and delimit new species. This thesis explores the application of DNA barcodes as the primary data for delimitation and diagnosis of new species of ichneumonoids.

The genera Zelomorpha and Hemichoma are revised and …

Can Increasing Grass-Fungal Endophyte Symbiotic Diversity Enhance Grassland Ecosystem Functioning?, Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is important in maintaining agroecosystem sustainability. Plant-microbe symbioses, such as exists between the grass tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceum) and the asexual fungal endophyte Epichloë coenophiala, can be utilized to enhance agroecosystem functions, such as herbivore resistance. “Novel” E. coenophiala strains that vary in the production of mammal- and insect-toxic compounds have been identified, inserted into tall fescue cultivars, and are planted in pastures globally. Novel fungal endophyte-tall fescue associations may have divergent ecosystem function effects. This study assessed effects of different fescue-endophyte symbiotic combinations on pasture ecosystem function, including aboveground …