A proposed method for estimating habitat suitability of weed biological control agents with experimentally derived thermal injury and weather data.

ABSTRACT: Ecological niche modelling provides a tool for making a priori predictions of habitat suitability for biological control agents. Current approaches may be limited by available data but improved by the incorporation of physiological data. Alligatorweed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. (Caryophyllales: Ameranthaceae), is controlled across much of its introduced range in the United States of America by the alligatorweed flea beetle, Agasicles hygrophila Selman and Vogt (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae); however, insufficient control is observed at temperate latitudes. Investigations into alligatorweed thrips, Amynothrips andersoni O'Neill (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), indicate that they are more cold-tolerant with a broader predicted range. The upper limit of the chill injury zone (U

SUBMITTER: Knight IA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12716278 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature