Abstract
Management programs for invasive species are often developed at a regional or national level, but physical intervention generally takes place over relatively small areas occupied by newly founded, isolated populations. The ability to predict how local habitat variation affects the expansion of such newly founded populations is essential for efficiently targeting resources to slow the spread of an invasive species. We assembled a coupled map lattice model that simulates the local spread of newly founded colonies of the emerald ash borer (
Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), a devastating forest insect pest of ash (
Fraxinus spp.) trees. Using this model, we investigated the spread of
A. planipennis in environments with different
Fraxinus spp. distributions, and explored the consequences of ovipositional foraging behavior on the local spread of
A. planipennis.
Keywords
biological invasions,
Buprestidae,
dispersal,
forest insect pests,
invasive species,
ovipositional behavior
Citation
Mercader, Rodrigo J.; Siegert, Nathan W.; Liebhold, Andrew M.; McCullough, Deborah G. 2011. Influence of foraging behavior and host spatial distribution on the localized spread of the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis. Population Ecology. 53: 271-285.
