Ian McIlvaine is thinking about aphid invasions

Ideas for Ian's M.S. research!

Ian and Chris search for common buckthorn along a forest edge

Ian McIlvaine started graduate school this January. Those who follow our blog may remember his introduction post. Ian's M.S. research will focus on the soybean aphid, an invasive herbivore that attacks soybean plants. This insect overwinters on common buckthorn, also an invasive species. This plant is present in disturbed habitats such as forest edges, fencerows, and unmanaged hedges.

Ian is interested in measuring if the amount of common buckthorn in the landscape influences the liklihood that a soybean field will be colonized by the soybean aphid. As one part of his project, he aims to determine how far the aphids move between their winter host (common buckthorn) and their summer host (soybean). This information is critical to developing a management plan for the soybean aphid that involves the removal of common buckthorn. Before we can motivate stakeholders to remove this invader from their property for the purpose of reducing soybean aphid we need to know at what spatial scale these management efforts would make a difference.

Over the past couple of weeks, Ian and I have begun to hash out ideas to address his goals and objectives. It's pretty hard to tell from the messy white board but we have made a lot of progress!