https://bioone.org/journals/harvard-papers-in-botany/volume-13/issue-2/1043-4534-13.2.299/Flora-of-China/10.3100/1043-4534-13.2.299.pdf

Flora of China

Insect declines are being reported worldwide for flying, ground, and aquatic lineages. Most reports come from western and northern Europe, where the insect fauna is well-studied and there are consi...

Insect Declines in the Anthropocene

https://bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-3059.1999.0411b.x

Biological Control of Weeds. A World Catalogue of Agents and their Target Weeds.

Learning Expectations:
1.	Functions of water in crop plant
2.	Physical and chemical properties of water
3.	Thermodynamic description of water 
4.	Driving forces of water in SPAC
5.	Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC)
6.	Water deficit, water use strategy and crop yield

Crop Production I

Nearly 4 % of the world’s forests are plantations, established to provide a variety of ecosystem services, principally timber and other wood products In addition to such services, plantation forests provide direct and indirect benefits to biodiversity via the provision of forest habitat for a wide range of species, and by reducing negative impacts on natural forests by offsetting the need to extract resources There is compelling evidence that climate change is directly affecting biodiversity in forests throughout the world These impacts occur as a result of changes in temperature, rainfall, storm frequency and magnitude, fire frequency, and the frequency and magnitude of pest and disease outbreaks However, in plantation forests it is not only the direct effects of climate change that will impact on biodiversity Climate change will have strong indirect effects on biodiversity in plantation forests via changes in forest management actions that have been proposed to mitigate the effects of climate change on the productive capacity of plantations These include changes in species selection (including use of species mixtures), rotation length, thinning, pruning, extraction of bioenergy feedstocks, and large scale climate change driven afforestation, reforestation, and, potentially deforestation By bringing together the potential direct and indirect impacts of climate change we conclude that in the short to medium term changes in plantation management designed to mitigate or adapt to climate change could have a significantly greater impact on biodiversity in such plantation forests than the direct effects of climate change Although this hypothesis remains to be formally tested, forest managers worldwide are already considering new approaches to plantation forestry in an effort to create forests that are more resilient to the effects of changing climatic conditions Such change presents significant risks to existing biodiversity values in plantation forests, however it also provides new opportunities to improve biodiversity values within existing and new plantation forests We conclude by suggesting future options, such as functional zoning and species mixtures applied at either the stand level or as fine-scale mosaics of single-species stands as options to improve biodiversity whilst increasing resilience to climate change

https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/misc/72422_2013_Pawson%20et%20al%20BiodiversConserv.pdf

Plantation forests, climate change and biodiversity

Bees and butterflies generally favor open forest habitats regardless of forest type, geographic region, or methods used to create these habitats. Dense shrub layers of native or nonnative species beneath forest canopies negatively impact herbaceous plant cover and diversity, and pollinators. The presence of nonnative flowers as a source of nectar, pollen, or larval food can have positive or negative effects on pollinators depending on the situation, but in cases where the nonnatives exclude native plants, the results are almost always negative. Roads and roadside corridors offer an opportunity to increase open, pollinator-friendly habitat even in dense forests by thinning the adjacent forest, mowing at appropriate times, and converting to native herbaceous plant communities where nonnative species have been planted or have invaded. Efforts to improve forest conditions for pollinators should consider the needs of specialist species and vulnerable species with small scattered populations. Conservation of bees and butterflies, as well as other pollinating species, in forested areas is important for most forest plant species, and forests may serve as reservoirs of pollinators for recolonization of surrounding habitats.

/pdf/conserving-pollinators-in-north-american-forests-a-review-380197j2qs.pdf

Conserving pollinators in North American forests: A review

The bean plataspid, Megacopta cribraria (F.), recently was discovered in the United States feeding on kudzu, Pueraria montana Lour. (Merr.) variety lobata (Willd.), an economically important invasive vine. We studied its biology on kudzu and its impact on kudzu growth. We also tested its ability to use other common forest legumes for oviposition and development. Flight intercept traps operated from 17 May 2010 to 31 May 2011 in a kudzu field near Athens, GA showed three peaks of adult flight activity suggesting there are two generations per year on kudzu. Vine samples examined for eggs from April 2010 to April 2011 and June to October 2011 showed two periods of oviposition activity in 2010, which coincided with the peaks in adult activity. In 2011, the second period of oviposition began on or before 24 June and then egg abundance declined gradually thereafter until late August when we recovered <2 eggs/0.5 m of vine. Samples of the five nymphal instars and adults on vines did not show similar trends in abundance. Adults did not lay eggs on the various legume species tested in 2010 in a no-choice test possibly because the cages were too small. In the 2011 field host range experiments conducted in a kudzu field by using 12 legume species, M. cribraria preferentially oviposited on kudzu over soybean, Glycine max Merrill., but they still laid 320 eggs per plant on soybean. Lespedeza hirta (L.) Hornem. and Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don had 122.2 and 108.4 eggs per plant, respectively. Kudzu and soybean were the only species M. cribraria completed development on. Plots protected from M. cribraria feeding by biweekly insecticide applications had 32.8% more kudzu biomass than unprotected plots. Our results show that M. cribraria has a significant impact on kudzu growth and could help suppress this pest weed.

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/2012/ja_2012_zhang_001.pdf

The Biology and Preliminary Host Range of Megacopta cribraria (Heteroptera: Plataspidae) and Its Impact on Kudzu Growth

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/2015/ja_2015_hanula_001.pdf

Have changing forests conditions contributed to pollinator decline in the southeastern United States

Chinese privet is a major invasive shrub within riparian zones throughout the southeastern United States. We removed privet shrubs from four riparian forests in October 2005 with a Gyrotrac® mulching machine or by hand-felling with chainsaws and machetes to determine how well these treatments controlled privet and how they affected plant community recovery. One year after shrub removal a foliar application of 2% glyphosate was applied to privet remaining in the herbaceous layer. Three “desired-future-condition” plots were also measured to assess how well treatments shifted plant communities toward a desirable outcome. Both methods completely removed privet from the shrub layer without reducing nonprivet shrub cover and diversity below levels on the untreated control plots. Nonprivet plant cover on the mulched plots was > 60% by 2007, similar to the desired-future-condition plots and higher than the hand-felling plots. Both treatments resulted in higher nonprivet plant cover than the untreated con...

/pdf/chinese-privet-ligustrum-sinense-removal-and-its-effect-on-2em99nvxf5.pdf

Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) Removal and its Effect on Native Plant Communities of Riparian Forests

1. Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) was removed from riparian forests in the Piedmont of Georgia in November 2005 by mulching with a track-mounted mulching machine or by chainsaw felling. The remaining privet in the herbaceous layer was killed with herbicide in December 2006. 2. Bee (Hymentoptera: Apoidea) abundance, diversity and community similarity in the forests were measured for 2 years after shrub removal and compared with heavily invaded controls and with non-invaded forests (desired future condition) using pan traps. 3. In 2006, control plots averaged 8.8 species and 34.8 bees per plot. Privet mulching resulted in 32.5 bee species and 418.3 bees per plot, and privet felling plots had 29 species and 259 bees per plot. In 2007, control plots averaged only10 species per plot and 32.8 bees per plot, while mulched and felled plots had 48 and 38 species per plot and 658.2 and 382.5 bees per plot, respectively. 4. The bee community on untreated control plots was dissimilar from the communities on privet felling, mulched and desired future condition plots during both years; however, by 2007, desired future condition, felling and mulched plots had similar bee communities. 5. Removal of an invasive shrub provided immediate benefits for native pollinators and resulted in bee communities similar to non-invaded forests even without further restoration of native plant communities.

/pdf/removing-an-invasive-shrub-chinese-privet-increases-native-4wvnk2xjmh.pdf

Scott Horn

Papers

Conserving pollinators in North American forests: A review

The Biology and Preliminary Host Range of Megacopta cribraria (Heteroptera: Plataspidae) and Its Impact on Kudzu Growth

Have changing forests conditions contributed to pollinator decline in the southeastern United States

Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) Removal and its Effect on Native Plant Communities of Riparian Forests

Removing an invasive shrub (Chinese privet) increases native bee diversity and abundance in riparian forests of the southeastern United States