Can native insects help defeat one of Wales’ most destructive invasive plants?

Mark Mansfield

Researchers in Wales have secured nearly half a million pounds to investigate whether native insects could help tackle one of the country’s most destructive invasive plant species.

Scientists at Bangor University have received £494,000 in funding from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to study how some insects are able to feed on Rhododendron ponticum, a toxic shrub that has spread widely through woodlands across Wales and other parts of the UK.

The project will examine whether those insects could eventually play a role in controlling the plant, which is regarded as a major threat to native wildlife and woodland ecosystems.

Rhododendron ponticum forms dense thickets that block sunlight from reaching the woodland floor, preventing many native plants from growing and restricting the natural regeneration of trees such as oak.

The shrub has become particularly problematic in parts of north Wales, where landowners and conservation organisations have spent years attempting to remove it.

At present, large-scale clearance remains the main method of controlling the plant, but the work is costly and labour-intensive.

Dr Benjamin Jarrett, from Bangor University’s School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, said: “Rhododendron ponticum is a major challenge for woodland managers across the UK.

“We want to understand if native insects are able to feed on a plant that is toxic to most species, and if they can, how they do it.

“By studying these insects, we may uncover new ways of managing rhododendron in the future that explicitly take evolution into account.”

As part of the project, researchers will survey rhododendron populations across north Wales to measure the extent to which the plants are being eaten by native insects.

The team will then carry out laboratory experiments and genetic analysis to investigate the biological mechanisms that allow those insects to tolerate the shrub’s chemical defences.

Scientists hope the work will improve understanding of how native species adapt to invasive plants and changing environmental conditions.

The findings could also help inform future approaches to conservation and habitat restoration.

Transformative

The funding comes from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, a UK government-backed body established to support high-risk and potentially transformative scientific research.

ARIA’s Engineering Ecosystem Resilience programme is exploring whether new technologies and targeted interventions could help reverse biodiversity decline and improve the resilience of natural ecosystems.

The Bangor project forms part of that wider programme and will investigate whether ecological adaptation already taking place in the natural world could provide new tools for tackling invasive species.