About this Research Topic
Negative ecological impacts of invasive alien plants frequently involve their ability to form rapidly growing populations at the expense of native plant communities. The ultimate goal of ecological management of invasive alien plants is to produce an ecologically resilient plant community, whether it be an agroecosystem, a natural ecosystem, or even a novel ecosystem. By contrast, control of invasive alien plants has typically focused on efficacious methods to kill the plants rather than on holistic ecosystem goals. Such control methods leave the area vulnerable to re-invasion by the same invasive plants or other invasive species, and can also lead to collateral ecosystem damage, e.g. herbicide impacts on non-target species or excessive soil disturbance causing reduced soil health. In their native environments, populations of invasive alien plants tend to be regulated biotically by natural enemies or competitors. Ecological management attempts to replicate such population regulation in the invaded environment.
As plant invasions and their impacts continue to increase worldwide, it is recognized that better ecological management methods are needed for prevention and control. Many promising and creative ecological solutions are emerging. These solutions are not as simple as typical pest control tools such as herbicides, but rather require an in-depth understanding of the ecological interactions among the invasive plants and invaded communities so that the ecological management methods are designed optimally to work against the invader. In this Research Topic, we are seeking to profile such innovative approaches to the ecological management of invasive alien plants. We will also focus on contributions that acknowledge and attempt to document the complex ecological and evolutionary mechanisms at play when managers attempt to wield ecological interactions to control invasive plants.
Specific themes in the purview of this Research Topic include but are not limited to the following:
• Utilizing competitive crops or native plant species to outcompete invasive alien plants
• Biological control of invasive alien plants using insects, plant pathogens or other organisms, focusing on the overall ecological impacts on the environment
• Integration of multiple pest control methods to reduce invasive alien plant populations while avoiding over-reliance on a single control method
• Ecological methods to create more diverse and resilient agroecosystems
• Manipulation of the physical environment (e.g. cultural control in agroecosystems, alteration of fire or flooding regimes) to reduce the dominance or spread of alien invasive plants
• Ecological approaches to slow the spread of invasive alien plants enhanced by climate change
• Long-term management approaches to invasive alien plant management that recognize successional and evolutionary processes intrinsic to the earth’s planetary regulation, including perspectives on earth history held by Indigenous peoples
As plant invasions and their impacts continue to increase worldwide, it is recognized that better ecological management methods are needed for prevention and control. Many promising and creative ecological solutions are emerging. These solutions are not as simple as typical pest control tools such as herbicides, but rather require an in-depth understanding of the ecological interactions among the invasive plants and invaded communities so that the ecological management methods are designed optimally to work against the invader. In this Research Topic, we are seeking to profile such innovative approaches to the ecological management of invasive alien plants. We will also focus on contributions that acknowledge and attempt to document the complex ecological and evolutionary mechanisms at play when managers attempt to wield ecological interactions to control invasive plants.
Specific themes in the purview of this Research Topic include but are not limited to the following:
• Utilizing competitive crops or native plant species to outcompete invasive alien plants
• Biological control of invasive alien plants using insects, plant pathogens or other organisms, focusing on the overall ecological impacts on the environment
• Integration of multiple pest control methods to reduce invasive alien plant populations while avoiding over-reliance on a single control method
• Ecological methods to create more diverse and resilient agroecosystems
• Manipulation of the physical environment (e.g. cultural control in agroecosystems, alteration of fire or flooding regimes) to reduce the dominance or spread of alien invasive plants
• Ecological approaches to slow the spread of invasive alien plants enhanced by climate change
• Long-term management approaches to invasive alien plant management that recognize successional and evolutionary processes intrinsic to the earth’s planetary regulation, including perspectives on earth history held by Indigenous peoples
Keywords: invasive alien plants, invasive alien species, ecological management, biological control, biodiversity
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
