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Research Areas: Optimal control of density dependent garlic mustard populations
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Land managers must decide where in the spatial distribution of a spreading
invasive plant population to focus their control efforts; on dense
individuals in the core of the population, or on spatially-isolated
satellite individuals. The optimal spatial management strategy will
depend on the strength of density dependence, dispersal ability, and the
amount of time it takes to find and kill core vs. satellite plants.
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a noxious weed that threatens the biodiversity and aesthetic quality of eastern and mid-western U.S. forests. The current research involves (1) quantifying density-dependence in stage-specific vital rates of garlic mustard, seed dispersal distances, and the ability of managers to find and pull core and satellite plants, (2) theoretically evaluating the optimal spatial management of garlic mustard based on the empirically collected data, and (3) testing the model predictions with experimental management at 10 recently invaded sites. |
