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Community consequences of introducing a biological control agent

引入生物防治剂的社区后果

基本信息

批准号：
NE/N00244X/1
负责人：
Alan Gange
金额：
$ 41.8万
依托单位：
Royal Holloway University of London
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2015
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2015 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FN00244X%2F1
关键词：
Community consequences introducing biological control

项目摘要

In the UK, and much of Europe and the rest of the world, invasive weeds are destroying natural habitats through exclusion of native species, reduction of biodiversity, and removal of ecosystem services. Some invasive weeds even damage the groundwork of buildings, causing structural problems. The costs to the UK economy alone totals almost £2billion per year highlighting them as key targets for control or removal. Efforts to control these weeds is also problematic and expensive, partly due to lack of control measures and partly because of the vigorous nature of the plant spread and deep-rooted establishment of the plants. One of these problem plants is Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam), which is now the most commonly occurring non-native plant species on riparian (riverside) systems in England and Wales. The plant severely reduces native plant and insect biodiversity and is expensive and difficult to control, because herbicides cannot be used near water courses. Balsam plants die off in winter, leaving exposed areas susceptible to erosion, while summer populations choke water courses, increasing the likelihood of flooding.DEFRA selected Balsam as target weed for biological control, emphasising the importance of this research. In July 2014, CABI received Ministerial approval to release the rust fungus Puccinia komarovii var. glanduliferae, a pathogen of Himalayan Balsam found in Pakistan and India, at trial sites in the UK. This is the first approved release of a non-native fungal pathogen anywhere in Europe. It therefore provides a unique opportunity to determine the impact of the rust release on the plant and the communities it has invaded. It is important not just to examine what factors affect the efficacy of the rust in the field, but also how native plant communities recover as weed populations decline. This proposal is a joint one involving CABI, Royal Holloway, University of London and the University of Reading. Together, we will monitor rust release, determine the factors that affect its establishment in the field and discover how invaded communities recover after balsam removal. We will conduct this research alongside DEFRA, who have pledged money to monitor rust release.We will carry out a series of experiments to examine the impact of soil-dwelling beneficial fungi (termed arbuscular mycorrhizas) on rust infection. Mycorrhizas provide plants with essential nutrients and some species are known to increase susceptibility to foliar pathogens. We will also examine the foliar tissues of balsam plants, as these also contain fungi (termed endophytes). New research is emerging to suggest that microbes living on plant surfaces and inside plants could have anti-microbial effects on potential invading pathogens. It is critical to determine whether we can manipulate the plant's growth conditions to maximise the efficiency of the rust, either through encouraging microbes that help the rust or removing conditions for detrimental microbes.This is a unique opportunity to discover how the native plant, insect and soil microbial communities start to recover after weed removal. Biocontrol is usually about reducing the health or performance of target organisms and to date it has generally been assumed that a native, diverse community will readily establish. However, we know that balsam somehow alters the soil to severely reduce growth of other plants. Thus, a key outcome of the study will be to determine how we can use beneficial microbes to allow native plants to recolonise. A particularly exciting part is that the mycorrhizal fungi which we hope to use to aid rust efficacy also have the potential to help native plants to grow, thus we will be able to develop a unique, double-headed strategy to have a genuine impact on the control of this weed.

在英国、欧洲大部分地区和世界其他地区，入侵杂草正在通过排斥本地物种、减少生物多样性和消除生态系统服务来破坏自然栖息地。一些入侵的杂草甚至破坏建筑物的地基，造成结构问题。仅英国经济每年的成本就高达近20亿英镑，突出显示它们是控制或清除的关键目标。控制这些杂草的努力也是有问题的和昂贵的，部分原因是缺乏控制措施，部分原因是植物蔓延的旺盛性质和植物的根深蒂固。这些问题植物之一是凤仙花glandulifera（喜马拉雅香脂），这是现在最常见的非本地植物物种的河岸（滨江）系统在英格兰和威尔士。这种植物严重减少了本地植物和昆虫的生物多样性，而且价格昂贵，难以控制，因为除草剂不能在水道附近使用。香脂植物在冬季死亡，使暴露的地区容易受到侵蚀，而夏季人口阻塞水道，增加洪水的可能性。DEFRA选择香脂作为生物防治的目标杂草，强调这项研究的重要性。2014年7月，CABI获得部长级批准，释放锈菌科马罗夫锈菌（Puccinia komarovii var.）。glanduliferae，一种在巴基斯坦和印度发现的喜马拉雅香脂的病原体，在英国的试验地点。这是欧洲首次批准释放非本地真菌病原体。因此，它提供了一个独特的机会，以确定锈菌释放对植物和它所入侵的社区的影响。重要的是，不仅要研究哪些因素影响田间锈病的效力，还要研究随着杂草种群的减少，本地植物群落如何恢复。这是一项联合提案，涉及CABI、皇家霍洛威、伦敦大学和阅读大学。我们将共同监测铁锈的释放，确定影响其在实地建立的因素，并发现在香脂清除后入侵的社区如何恢复。我们将与DEFRA一起进行这项研究，DEFRA承诺提供资金来监测锈病的释放。我们将进行一系列实验，以检查土壤中的有益真菌（称为丛枝菌根）对锈病感染的影响。菌根为植物提供必需的营养物质，并且已知一些物种增加对叶面病原体的易感性。我们还将检查香脂植物的叶组织，因为这些也含有真菌（称为内生菌）。新的研究表明，生活在植物表面和植物内部的微生物可能对潜在的入侵病原体具有抗菌作用。关键是要确定我们是否可以通过鼓励有助于锈病的微生物或消除有害微生物的条件来控制植物的生长条件，以最大限度地提高锈病的效率。这是一个独特的机会，可以发现本地植物，昆虫和土壤微生物群落在杂草清除后如何开始恢复。生物防治通常是关于降低目标生物的健康或性能，迄今为止，人们普遍认为，一个本地的，多样化的社区将很容易建立。然而，我们知道香脂以某种方式改变了土壤，严重减少了其他植物的生长。因此，这项研究的一个关键成果将是确定我们如何利用有益的微生物来让原生植物繁殖。一个特别令人兴奋的部分是，我们希望用来帮助锈病疗效的菌根真菌也有可能帮助本地植物生长，因此我们将能够开发一种独特的双头策略，对这种杂草的控制产生真正的影响。