The Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center has been able to fund over 70 research projects to date (as of 2025). 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 plants to control buckthorn (phases 1, 2 and 3) (complete)
- Will future weather favor Minnesota's woody invaders? (complete)
- Understanding the benefits and costs of using goats for invasive plant control (complete)
- Biology and biocontrol potential of a rust fungus infecting Phalaris arundinacea and Frangula alnus (complete)
- Effects of Puccinia species complex on common buckthorn (in progress)
- Biological control of buckthorn using fungi (in progress)
- Making revegetation as part of buckthorn management feasible in Minnesota (in progress)
Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense)
Common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
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)
Lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum)
Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri)
- Climate change and range expansion of invasive plants (complete)
- Developing robust identification assays for Amaranthus palmeri in seed mixture (complete)
- Competitiveness and adaptability of Palmer amaranth in changing Minnesota climate (in progress)
- High-resolution deep learning-based dual-level remote sensing for localizing and mapping multiple invasive species of Minnesota (in progress)
Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea)
Spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe spps)
Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
Plant pathogen projects
Aster yellows (Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris)
Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus)
Cereal cyst nematode disease (Heterodera latipons, H. filipjevi)
Charcoal rot (Macrophomina phaseolina)
Corn tar spot (Phyllachora maydis)
Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma novo-ulmi)
Heterobasidion root disease (Heterobasidion spp.)
Japanese oak wilt (Raffaelea quercivora, Geosmithia morbida)
Oak wilt (Bretziella fagacearum)
- Novel diagnostic tools for rapid and early detection of oak wilt (phases 1-3) (complete)
- Detection and treatment of oak wilt (phases 1 and 2) (complete)
- A portable diagnostic platform for early detection of invasive plants and forest pathogens (in progress)
- Biosurveillance of invasive pathogens of woody plants in Minnesota (in progress)
- Detecting invasive tree diseases using spaceborne phenological observations (in progress)
- Oak wilt management: a changing landscape (in progress)
Potato brown rot (Ralstonia solanacearum, Race 3, biovar 2)
Soybean sudden death syndrome (Fusarium virguliforme)
Sudden oak death (Phytophthora ramorum)
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV)
Thousand cankers disease (Geosmithia morbida)
Invertebrate projects
Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis)
Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys)
- Early detection, forecasting and management for Halyomorpha halys (complete)
- Developing a spatially explicit bio-economic dispersal model to aid with the management of Halyomorpha halys (complete)
- eDNA to identify presence of terrestrial invasive species in Minnesota (in progress)
- Risks and benefits of the samurai wasp in Minnesota (in progress)
- Protecting soybean from invasive insects by integrating oilseed cover crops (in progress)
Egyptian cottonworm (Spodoptera littoralis)
Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennnis)
- Optimizing tree injections against emerald ash borer (complete)
- Integrated emerald ash borer management: testing a novel approach to assess stakeholder perceptions (complete)
- Fungal biocontrol for emerald ash borer (phases 1 and 2) (in progress)
- eDNA to identify presence of terrestrial invasive species in Minnesota (in progress)
- Remotely diagnosing early symptoms of emerald ash borer infestation (in progress)
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 (complete)
- Decreasing environmental impacts of soybean aphid management (phases 1 and 2) (complete)
- Biological control of the soybean aphid by Aphelinus certus (complete)
- Developing pest-resistant soybean for sustainable management of soybean aphids and Japanese beetles (in progress)
- Linking soybean aphid losses to technology investment decisions (in progress)
- Protecting soybean from invasive insects by integrating oilseed cover crops (in progress)
Spongy moth (Lymantria dispar dispar, Lymantria dispar asiatica)
Spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii)
- Forecasting invasive insect threats in Minnesota (complete)
- Overwintering, migration and development of cost-effective practical management strategies for the invasive spotted wing drosophila in MN (complete)
- Genetic biocontrol of invasive spotted wing drosophila (phases 1, 2, and 3) (in progress)
- eDNA to identify presence of terrestrial invasive species in Minnesota (in progress)
- Informing management of invasive Lonicera (honeysuckle) and spotted-wing drosophila (in progress)