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Information - Citizens

Why Participate?
Maybe you enjoy science and love the idea of participating in a real scientific study that will eventually be published. Maybe you get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you are contributing positively to scientific research that may eventually benefit humankind.

On the other hand, maybe you are worried about invasive species but wonder if your time would be better spent pulling out Garlic Mustard, rather than measuring it! We certainly believe control efforts are important. But we think that good scientific research will lead to much more effective control strategies. In addition, we are integrating survey data with Garlic Mustard eradication efforts to track the effectiveness of different control options in different regions

Control efforts
We are working towards a more interactive website to allow management 'teams' (including conservation or weed control groups) to monitor the effectiveness of control projects over multiple years. Integrating survey data with environmental characteristics can help to identify more effective control strategies for a given area. These control strategies include various combinations of different timing and methods (e.g. pull vs. herbicide vs. biocontrol).

Research Value
Understanding the ecology of a species can lead to much more effective management decisions, but it also takes a lot more time and effort to get there. For example, the effectiveness of introducing new insects for biological control remains highly variable and difficult to predict. It is based on the idea that invaders 'escape' from natural enemies in the native range and this gives an advantage over natives. Biological control can be effective but is very risky business since it introduces one potentially invasive species to deal with another, sometimes with really dire consequences (e.g. mosquito fish, apple snail, cane toad).

As it happens, there is currently a plan in motion to license the import and release of a biocontrol beetle for garlic mustard, so it is quite relevant to our study. Biological control today is a lot more cautious than it has been historically, but there will always be a large amount of uncertainty without more detailed data of the type we are seeking. If garlic mustard populations in Europe and North America have similar abundances, it would suggest that garlic mustard is not heavily controlled by biocontrol agents and therefore biological control would not be an effective strategy. In that case, the risk of introducing a new beetle would probably not be warranted.

On the other hand, if there IS a change in size and density of Garlic Mustard in North America, it suggests that there is something fundamentally different from the native range, but that doesn't mean that escape from natural enemies is the cause. The next step would be to identify what the cause: perhaps herbivores, perhaps allelopathic chemicals, perhaps genetics, perhaps something else.

More importantly, the abundance of Garlic Mustard is variable throughout North America and Europe, even for populations that have been established for a long time. Understanding why this variation exists could lead to important new insights into the biology of invasive species and ultimately lead to new and more effective control options

The truth is that new discoveries are difficult to predict but can lead to unforeseen management options.

We hope you will consider participating!