Location: Invasive Plant Research Laboratory
Project Number: 6032-22000-013-130-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Dec 22, 2023
End Date: Mar 30, 2025
Objective:
The primary purpose of this project is to reduce populations of the aggressive invasive weed, Brazilian peppertree, through a biological control program employed by our facility. This environmentally safe, cost-effective, and sustainable means of weed control will be accomplished with the mass production, distribution, and evaluation of the approved thrips agent, Pseudophilothrips ichini. Methods will be developed and tested to evaluate the impact of the thrips on the target weed.
Approach:
To assess Brazilian peppertree responses to the thrips biological control, a common garden experiment across a latitudinal gradient from South Florida to the Florida panhandle will be utilized. At each of five field sites, Brazilian peppertree plants from multiple genetic lineages (identified as haplotype A, B, and AB hybrids consisting of varying genetics from each origin) will be planted together in a blocked, randomized, and replicated common garden experiment. Half of the plants will be exposed to the thrips biological control agent. Plant genetics will be determined to haplotype and hybrid.
