Author
Weidong Weidong Fu
fuweidong@caas.cn
Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Beijing
Coauthors
Guoliang Zhang
Zhen Song
Yue Zhang
Abstract
Alligator weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides is a perennial aquatic weed invasive in China. It detrimentally impacts native biodiversity and causes huge losses to shipping and aquaculture. Agasicles hygrophila is a leaf-feeding natural enemy which provides effective control of A. philoxeroides. In this study, the biological and physiological indices of A. philoxeroides‘ density, plant morphology, chlorophyll content, biomass, and the population size of A. hygrophila were investigated in condition-controlled experiments. The effect of different release sizes of A. hygrophila on the control of A. philoxeroides was also studied. The results showed that under the condition of 40 stems·m2, the release of 4 pairs of A. hygrophila was optimal. Under these conditions, the stable breeding and quantity increase of natural enemies can be guaranteed, and the best feeding and control effect on A. philoxeroides can be obtained. The results provide a theoretical basis for further optimization of the propagation and release of A. hygrophila.
Keywords
A. philoxeroides
invasive weed
natural enemy
release
control effect
Highlights
Significant correlation between the number of natural enemies and target weed biomass
Under the condition of 40 stems per m2, 4 pairs of A. hygrophila provided the best effect
As the number of natural enemies increases, the average chlorophyll content in the leaves decreases