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Impacts of weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) invasion on native grasshoppers: responses of habitat generalist and specialist species

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Abstract

We investigated invasion impacts of a grass species (Eragrostis curvula) on native grasshoppers by periodic censuses of these insects on gravelly floodplains of the Kinu River, Japan. Our hypothesis was that there are greater impacts on natives when they are habitat specialists, as opposed to habitat generalists. The study area comprised two main habitat types: gravelly areas and riparian grasslands. Among 12 grasshopper species identified, five were more abundant in one of the habitat types and all of them were significantly negatively affected by coverage of weeping lovegrass, whereas seven occurred at the both habitat types simultaneously and a significantly smaller portion of species (two of the seven) was negatively affected by the alien plants. The results suggest that habitat specificity is related to the grasshopper species’ sensitivity to the plant, indicating that habitat specialist herbivores living on open gravelly floodplains are likely highly vulnerable to this plant invasion.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. T. Muranaka (North Asia University) for his support during the censuses, and the Shimodate River office of the Kanto Regional Development Bureau Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport for the vegetation map of the National Censuses on River Environments. We also thank the members of Nature Conservation Group of the city of Ujiie, Dr. J. Nishihiro and Dr. J. Ishii for their encouragement during the course of this study and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments. We appreciate Mr. K. Ichinose for his support in processing vegetation map data.

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  1. Department of Ecosystem Studies, Institute of Agricultural and Life-Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Akira Yoshioka, Taku Kadoya, Shin-ichi Suda & Izumi Washitani

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  1. Akira Yoshioka
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  2. Taku Kadoya
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  3. Shin-ichi Suda
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Correspondence to Akira Yoshioka.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

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Table 3 Grasshopper taxa recorded
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Yoshioka, A., Kadoya, T., Suda, Si. et al. Impacts of weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) invasion on native grasshoppers: responses of habitat generalist and specialist species. Biol Invasions 12, 531–539 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9456-x

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