@article{wilson_backe_just_lahr_nagle_long_dale_frank_2023, title={Tree species richness around urban red maples reduces pest density but does not enhance biological control}, volume={88}, ISSN={["1610-8167"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128093}, abstractNote={Urban trees often host greater insect pest abundance than trees in rural forests. This may be due, in part, to differences in tree diversity and canopy cover between these settings. Urban trees are often planted in isolation or monoculture, which favors pest accumulation. Gloomy scale, Melanaspis tenebricosa Comstock, is a pest of urban red maples (Acer rubrum L.) that is abundant where impervious surfaces dominate the local landscape. Increasing tree diversity and canopy cover around urban red maples may reduce gloomy scale abundance by supporting natural enemy communities. We investigated the effect that surrounding tree species richness and tree canopy cover had on gloomy scale abundance, natural enemy abundance, and biological control in red maple trees in Raleigh, NC, USA. We collected scales and natural enemies from red maples that spanned a gradient of tree species richness, canopy cover, and impervious surface values. We also measured gloomy scale parasitism and predation of sentinel prey in red maple canopies. Greater tree species richness and canopy cover were associated with lower gloomy scale density. Red maples in diverse settings also hosted fewer scales per natural enemy. Parasitoids were less common in maples in diverse settings, but generalist predator abundance was unaffected by tree diversity. Finally, tree species richness and canopy cover did not increase biological control of scales or sentinel prey. Our findings suggest that higher tree diversity and greater canopy cover may reduce gloomy scale density, but this is not entirely explained by the effects of natural enemies and biological control.}, journal={URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING}, author={Wilson, Caleb J. and Backe, Kristi M. and Just, Michael G. and Lahr, Eleanor C. and Nagle, Annemarie M. and Long, Lawrence C. and Dale, Adam G. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2023}, month={Oct} }
 @article{frank_backe_2022, title={Effects of Urban Heat Islands on Temperate Forest Trees and Arthropods}, volume={12}, ISSN={["2198-6436"]}, DOI={10.1007/s40725-022-00178-7}, journal={CURRENT FORESTRY REPORTS}, author={Frank, Steven D. and Backe, Kristi M.}, year={2022}, month={Dec} }
 @article{backe_rousselet_bernard_frank_roques_2021, title={Human health risks of invasive caterpillars increase with urban warming}, volume={36}, ISSN={["1572-9761"]}, DOI={10.1007/s10980-021-01214-w}, abstractNote={Development and survival vary across a species’ geographic range and are also affected by local conditions like urban warming, which may drive changes in biology that magnify or reduce the risks of hazardous organisms to people. Larvae of the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa Schiff; PPM) are covered with setae (hair-like structures) that cause allergic reactions in warm-blooded vertebrates upon contact with the skin, eyes, or respiratory tract. Our objective was to determine whether PPM larva development, phenology, and survival change with urban warming in ways that affect the risks of this organism to people. In Orléans, France, we conducted a field study of PPM larvae across a gradient of urbanization from forests to city center to measure winter survival and the timing and duration of the life stage that poses the greatest risk to people. Larvae in the city spent more time in the fifth, most dangerous, instar than larvae in the forest. Urban warming indirectly increased larva survival by advancing phenology of urban larvae to a more cold-tolerant life stage prior to the winter cold period. Our results indicate that local urban warming drives changes in larva biology that increase the risks the organisms pose to people. In recent decades, the PPM has expanded its geographic range to higher latitudes with rising temperatures. Our study highlights that local landscape variation, such as a mosaic of warmer and cooler temperatures in cities, can alter the effects of this type of range expansion for people.}, number={5}, journal={LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY}, author={Backe, Kristi and Rousselet, Jerome and Bernard, Alexis and Frank, Steven and Roques, Alain}, year={2021}, month={May}, pages={1475–1487} }
 @article{lahr_backe_frank_2020, title={Intraspecific variation in morphology, physiology, and ecology of wildtype relative to horticultural varieties of red maple (Acer rubrum)}, volume={34}, ISSN={["1432-2285"]}, DOI={10.1007/s00468-019-01942-2}, number={2}, journal={TREES-STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION}, author={Lahr, Eleanor C. and Backe, Kristi M. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2020}, month={Apr}, pages={603–614} }
 @article{backe_frank_2019, title={Chronology of Gloomy Scale (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) Infestations on Urban Trees}, volume={48}, ISSN={["1938-2936"]}, DOI={10.1093/ee/nvz094}, abstractNote={Abstract}, number={5}, journal={ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY}, author={Backe, Kristi M. and Frank, Steven D.}, year={2019}, month={Oct}, pages={1113–1120} }
 @article{frank_backe_mcdaniel_green_widney_dunn_2019, title={Exotic urban trees conserve similar natural enemy communities to native congeners but have fewer pests}, volume={7}, ISSN={["2167-8359"]}, DOI={10.7717/peerj.6531}, abstractNote={Urban trees serve a critical conservation function by supporting arthropod and vertebrate communities but are often subject to arthropod pest infestations. Native trees are thought to support richer arthropod communities than exotic trees but may also be more susceptible to herbivorous pests. Exotic trees may be less susceptible to herbivores but provide less conservation value as a consequence. We tested the hypotheses that native species inAcerandQuercuswould have more herbivorous pests than exotic congeners and different communities of arthropod natural enemies. The density of scale insects, common urban tree pests, was greatest on a nativeAcerand a nativeQuercusthan exotic congeners in both years of our research (2012 and 2016) and sometimes reached damaging levels. However, differences in predator and parasitoid abundance, diversity, and communities were not consistent between native and exotic species in either genus and were generally similar. For example, in 2012 neither predator nor parasitoid abundance differed among native and exoticAcercongeners but in 2016 a native species,A. saccharum, had the least of both groups. A native,Q. phellos, had significantly more predators and parasitoids in 2012 than its native and exotic congeners but no differences in 2016. Parasitoid communities were significantly different amongAcerspecies andQuercusspecies due in each case to greater abundance of a single family on one native tree species. These native and exotic tree species could help conserve arthropod natural enemies and achieve pest management goals.}, journal={PEERJ}, author={Frank, Steven D. and Backe, Kristi M. and McDaniel, Casey and Green, Matthew and Widney, Sarah and Dunn, Robert R.}, year={2019}, month={Mar} }