Seed dispersal patterns affect the rate at which offspring encounter specialized natural enemies, and thereby the strength of the associated interspecific interaction (Howe and Smallwood, 1982). Relatively specialized natural enemies such as pathogens and insect herbivores are expected to be found in higher densities near plants of their host species (Janzen, 1970). Because dispersing offspring...

Understanding the mechanisms underlying ecological specialization is central to our understanding of community ecology and evolution. Although theoretical work has investigated how variable environments may affect specialization in single species, little is known about how such variation impacts bipartite network structure in antagonistically coevolving systems. Here, we develop and analyse a g...

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are ubiquitous and generalized consumers of insects in soil food webs, occurring widely in natural and agricultural ecosystems on six continents. Augmentative releases of EPN have been used to enhance biological control of pests in agroecosystems. Pest managers strive to achieve a trophic cascade whereby natural-enemy effects permeate down through the food web t...

BACKGROUND Biological invasions are fundamentally biogeographic processes that occur over large spatial scales. Interactions with soil microbes can have strong impacts on plant invasions, but how these interactions vary among areas where introduced species are highly invasive vs. naturalized is still unknown. In this study, we examined biogeographic variation in plant-soil microbe interactions ...

Successful plant invasions are often attributed to increased plant size, reproduction, or release from natural enemies, but the generality and persistence of these patterns remains widely debated. Meta-analysis was used to quantitatively assess invasive plant performance and release from enemy damage and how these change with residence time and geographic distribution. Invasive plants were comp...

1. As plant invasions pose one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, it is critical to improve both our understanding of invasiveness and strategies for control. Much research into plant invasions and their management, including biological control, assumes strong demographic effects by natural enemies, including herbivores. However, the importance of natural enemies in the regulation of plan...

Flower strips are commonly recommended to boost biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services (e.g., pollination and pest control) on farmland. However, significant knowledge gaps remain regards the extent to which they deliver on these aims. Here, we tested the efficacy of flower strips that targeted different subsets of beneficial arthropods (pollinators and natural enemies) and their ecosyste...