The influence of native plants on arthropod population dynamics: can native plants enhance conservation biological control
| dc.contributor.advisor | Shrewsbury, Paula M | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Vodraska, Ellery Ala | en_US |
| dc.contributor.department | Entomology | en_US |
| dc.contributor.publisher | Digital Repository at the University of Maryland | en_US |
| dc.contributor.publisher | University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2008-06-20T05:39:10Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2008-06-20T05:39:10Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2008-05-13 | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Conservation biological control aims to maintain sustainable natural enemy populations. Through increased urbanization, alien vegetation is being planted; these plants may be unacceptable hosts for herbivores. We tested the prediction that urban landscapes composed of native plants host a diverse herbivore population and attract and sustain a diverse community of natural enemies relative to landscapes composed of alien plants. Native and alien landscapes were created to test this prediction. I compared the colonizing arthropod communities, herbivore survival and the aesthetic injury of trees and shrubs in native and alien landscapes. In this two year project, I found only weak evidence to support my predictions. Native landscapes did not host an arthropod community significantly different than alien landscapes. There was a trend for several natural enemy families to have a greater abundance in native landscapes. This did not have an impact on herbivore survival or aesthetic injury of the plants. | en_US |
| dc.format.extent | 490339 bytes | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1903/8239 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.subject.pqcontrolled | Biology, Entomology | en_US |
| dc.title | The influence of native plants on arthropod population dynamics: can native plants enhance conservation biological control | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
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