POST-RELEASE ASSESSMENT OF CLASSICAL BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF CANADA THISTLE (CIRSIUM ARVENSE) IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES
Price, Joel. (2014). POST-RELEASE ASSESSMENT OF CLASSICAL BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF CANADA THISTLE (CIRSIUM ARVENSE) IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. Theses and Dissertations Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections. https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/etd/items/price_idaho_0089m_10185.html
- Title:
- POST-RELEASE ASSESSMENT OF CLASSICAL BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF CANADA THISTLE (CIRSIUM ARVENSE) IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES
- Author:
- Price, Joel
- Date:
- 2014
- Keywords:
- Cirsium arvense Hadroplontus litura herbivory parasitism Urophora cardui weed population dynamics
- Program:
- Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences
- Subject Category:
- Entomology; Plant sciences; Parasitology
- Abstract:
-
Classical biological control of weeds has been used almost 50 years to control
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle) in the United States. However, few field studies have assessed the efficacy of approved biological control agents, a stem-galling flyUrophora cardui and stem-mining weevilHadroplontus litura . We reviewed literature onC. arvense control, and between 2008 and 2012, monitored release transects ofU. cardui ,H. litura , both species, or no insects released atC. arvense infestations across the western United States. At each study transect (n = 87), we measuredU. cardui parasitism pressure, biological control agent establishment and abundance, vegetation cover,C. arvense density, and abiotic variables; each as potential factors in inter-annualC. arvense density fluctuation. We found thatU. cardui galls are attacked by five parasitoid species at low rates and thatC. arvense infestations are negatively affected by perennial grass competition and not by biological control agent herbivory. - Description:
- masters, M.S., Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2014
- Major Professor:
- Schwarzländer, Mark
- Committee:
- Johnson, James B.; Gassmann, André
- Defense Date:
- 2014
- Identifier:
- Price_idaho_0089M_10185
- Type:
- Text
- Format Original:
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Rights:
- In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted. For more information, please contact University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives Department at libspec@uidaho.edu.
- Standardized Rights:
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/