CABI

About: CABI is a nonprofit organization based out in Wallingford, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Introduced species. The organization has 789 authors who have published 1759 publications receiving 73843 citations. The organization is also known as: Centre for Biosciences and Agriculture International.

Evolution in biocontrol strains: insight from the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis

Abstract: After being used as a biocontrol agent against aphids for decades without harmful consequences, the Asian harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis has suddenly become an invasive pest on a worldwide scale. We investigate the impact of captive breeding on several traits of this ladybird such as genetic diversity, fecundity, survival and pathogen resistance. We conducted an experiment in the laboratory to compare the fecundity and the susceptibility to the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana of wild and biocontrol adults of H. axyridis. We compiled these new findings with already published data. Altogether, our findings suggest that mass rearing of biological control agents may strongly impact genetic diversity and life-history traits. We discuss how such changes may subsequently affect the fitness of biological control strains in natural environments.

Impactos ecológicos de las invasiones de plantas y vertebrados terrestres en Europa

Abstract: Ecological impacts of terrestrial invasive plants and vertebrates in Europe. The impact of introduced species is one of the least studied aspects of the ecology of biological invasions especially in Europe. Most studies have focussed on those species with an economic impact. We have reviewed the literature on the effects of invasive plant and terrestrial vertebrate species on native species and receptive ecosystems in Europe. Invasive plants can interfere by competition or allelopathy with native plants. At the community level, the most studied impact is that of a decrease of species diversity and the local displacement of some of them. Alien plants can also interfere at high trophic levels such as by competition for pollinators. At the ecosystem level they can change nutrient cycling (i.e. N fixing species), soil water availability and alter natural disturbance regimes. For invasive vertebrates, if they occupy the same ecological niche as a native species, one species may interfere with the other. Usually this happens by competition for food or other resources, via direct predation or transfer of pathogens. They can also considerably alter the vegetation structure and succession.