– December 25, 2021
I’m happy to share that our paper entitled “Response of five Miscanthus sinensis cultivars to grasshopper herbivory: implications for monitoring of invasive grasses in protected Areas” is published in Plants, Special Issue “Invasive Alien Species in Protected Areas”.
In this study, we conducted field and greenhouse experiments to explore plant resistance and tolerance to grasshopper herbivory in five cultivars of Miscanthus sinensis. The results of this project demonstrated that plant responses varied among the cultivars during a season; all the cultivars, but “Zebrinus”, demonstrated a significant increase in plant tolerance by the end of the growing season regardless of the amount of sustained leaf damage. Different patterns in plant responses from “solid green” and “striped/spotted” varieties were recorded, with the lowest plant resistance detected for “Autumn Anthem” in the cage experiment. Our results have important applications for monitoring low-risk invaders in protected areas, as well as for biotic resistance of native communities to invasive grasses.
