First Advisor

Mark Sytsma

Term of Graduation

Fall 2009

Date of Publication

11-4-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Environmental Science and Resources

Department

Environmental Science and Management

Language

English

Subjects

Purple loosestrife -- Biological control -- Columbia River Estuary (Or. and Wash.), Galerucella -- Columbia River Estuary (Or. and Wash.)

DOI

10.15760/etd.5464

Physical Description

1 online resource (2, vii, 61 pages)

Abstract

Galerucella pusilla and G. calmariensis have provided successful biological control of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.) in non-tidal areas but only marginal control in areas of tidal influence. While a previous study identified mechanical scour by tidal waters as the main cause of establishment failure, purple loosestrife stem density explained more than 80% of the variability in presence and absence of Galerucella at my study sites in the Columbia River Estuary. A logistic regression model using purple loosestrife stem density, elevation, and their interaction as predictors accurately predicted 92.5% of Galerucella presence or absence observations of a test data set (n= 201). Field data also identified a critical threshold of approximately 32 purple loosestrife stems/m2, above which Galerucella were present 100% of the time at the release sites.

Rights

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Comments

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Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/20309

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