The Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center has been able to fund 48 research projects to date. Each project addresses a top-rated terrestrial invasive species and at least one of the following research themes: early detection, management alternatives, response to climate change, and socio-economic impact.
All of MITPPC’s past and present projects are listed below by the species studied. If a species is not listed, we have not funded any research about it yet. Likewise, not each species ranked as a top threat may have a project associated with it yet.
Plant projects
Barberry (hybrid; Berberis x ottawensis)
Buckthorn (Frangula alnus, Rhamnus cathartica)
- Cover it up! Using plant to control buckthorn
- Cover it up! Phase 2
- Will future weather favor Minnesota's woody invaders?
- Understanding the benefits and costs of using goats for invasive plant control
- Biology and biocontrol potential of a rust fungus infecting Phalaris arundinacea and Frangula alnus
- Effects of Puccinia species complex on common buckthorn
- Biological control of buckthorn using fungi
- Making revegetation as part of buckthorn management feasible in Minnesota
Common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
- Climate change and range expansion of invasive plants
- Improved detection and future management of leafy spurge and common tansy using remote sensing, mechanistic species distribution models, and landscape genomics (phase 1)
- Building mechanistic and process-based species distribution models for common tansy and leafy spurge: from landscapes to genomes (phase 2)
- Incorporating adaptation into forecasts of range shifts with climate change
European common reed grass (Phragmites australis subsp. australis)
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii, L. tatarica)
Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum)
Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)
- Improved detection and future management of leafy spurge and common tansy using remote sensing, mechanistic species distribution models, and landscape genomics (phase 1)
- Building mechanistic and process-based species distribution models for common tansy and leafy spurge: from landscapes to genomes (phase 2)
Lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum)
Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea)
Plant pathogen projects
Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus)
Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma novo-ulmi)
Heterobasidion root disease (Heterobasidion spp.)
Japanese oak wilt (Raffaelea quercivora, Geosmithia morbida)
Oak wilt (Bretziella fagacearum)
Soybean sudden death syndrome (Fusarium virguliforme)
Sudden oak death (Phytophthora ramorum)
Insect and invertebrate projects
Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis)
Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys)
Egyptian cottonworm (Spodoptera littoralis)
Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennnis)
- Optimizing tree injections against emerald ash borer
- Integrated emerald ash borer management: testing a novel approach to assess stakeholder perceptions
- Fungi in ash trees: Towards protecting trees from emerald ash borer and new diseases (phase 1)
- Studies of entomopathogenic fungi for effective biocontrol of the emerald ash borer (phase 2)
European grape berry moth (Eupoecilia ambiguella)
Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica)
Jumping worms (Amynthas spp.)
Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae)
Old world bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera)
Sirex woodwasp (Sirex noctilio)
Soybean aphid (Aphis glycines)
- Forecasting invasive insect threats in Minnesota
- Decreasing environmental impacts of soybean aphid management (phase 1)
- Confronting soybean aphid with advanced plant breeding and remote sensing (phase 2)
- Biological control of the soybean aphid by Aphelinus certus
- Developing pest-resistant soybean for sustainable management of soybean aphids and Japanese beetles
Spongy moth (Lymantria dispar dispar, Lymantria dispar asiatica)
Spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii)
- Forecasting invasive insect threats in Minnesota
- Overwintering, migration and development of cost-effective practical management strategies for the invasive spotted wing drosophila in MN
- Genetic control of invasive insect species (phase 1)
- Genetic control of invasive insect species (phase 2)
- Genetic control of invasive insect species (phase 3)
Projects on the prioritization of research
