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oai:drum.lib.umd.edu:1903/82392016-03-29T06:26:07Zcom_1903_11813com_1903_12com_1903_2col_1903_2767col_1903_3

Shrewsbury, Paula M Vodraska, Ellery Ala Digital Repository at the University of Maryland University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) Entomology 2008-06-20T05:39:10Z 2008-06-20T05:39:10Z 2008-05-13 http://hdl.handle.net/1903/8239 Conservation biological control aims to maintain sustainable natural enemy populations. Through increased urbanization, alien vegetation is being planted; these plants may be unacceptable hosts for herbivores. We tested the prediction that urban landscapes composed of native plants host a diverse herbivore population and attract and sustain a diverse community of natural enemies relative to landscapes composed of alien plants. Native and alien landscapes were created to test this prediction. I compared the colonizing arthropod communities, herbivore survival and the aesthetic injury of trees and shrubs in native and alien landscapes. In this two year project, I found only weak evidence to support my predictions. Native landscapes did not host an arthropod community significantly different than alien landscapes. There was a trend for several natural enemy families to have a greater abundance in native landscapes. This did not have an impact on herbivore survival or aesthetic injury of the plants. 490339 bytes application/pdf en_US The influence of native plants on arthropod population dynamics: can native plants enhance conservation biological control Thesis Biology, Entomology open.access