Category: Invasive Species

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Faculty Spotlight Global Change Invasive Species

Jacob Barney briefs congressional staffers on the benefits and risks of biofuel crops

From VT News

BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 19, 2016 – A Virginia Tech invasive plant expert will be briefing congressional staff members on Monday on the best ways to increase the use of plants for biofuels without sowing an environmental nightmare in the process.

While plants used for biofuels are a vital part of a growing need to create more forms of alternative energy, careless planting of them can lead to an unwanted invasion of exotic plants that can push out native species and create ecological havoc.

“We hope to show our leaders in Washington how a series of simple procedures can maximize the benefit of the biofuel crops while mitigating their risks,” said Jacob Barney, an assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science.

Follow Barney on the college’s Twitter page as he chronicles his meetings with congressional staffers and travels through the inner-workings of the Washington, D.C. policy-making machine.

History has shown that crops that were meant to have a benefit can turn out to be a nuisance. Kudzu was introduced to curb erosion but now chokes out native plants in large swaths of the South.

Barney is the leader of an international group of scientists who have been working on the proposal as excitement and concern surrounds biofuels.

The excitement comes from farmers wanting to diversify their crops by planting biofuels, which can often be raised on marginal land with little inputs. But the fear arises if those crops could be deemed invasive, which is one of the top-five threats to biodiversity. Once an invasive plant takes root, it can be extremely difficult and costly to remove them.

Barney and his colleagues are proposing a multi-step risk-evaluation system to determine if crops pose an invasive risk. It examines if plants are considered “weeds,” if it requires quarantining, and what laws exist or are needed to minimize risk.

“We hope our time in Washington will help to move the biofuels market ahead in direction that helps the planet instead of harming it,” said Barney, who is also a member of the Fralin Life Science Institute.

Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciencesfocuses on the science and business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives more than 3,100 students in a dozen academic departments a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. Students learn from the world’s leading agricultural scientists, who bring the latest science and technology into the classroom.

Story by Zeke Barlow

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Invasive Species Research

Research team including Jacob Barney receives $5 million USDA grant to combat invasive plant

Jacob Barney, Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology & Weed Science at Virginia Tech, is part of a research team that recently received a USDA grant to study the invasive weed, Johnsongrass.

From UGA Today

“A team of researchers led by faculty at the University of Georgia have received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find new ways of combating Johnsongrass, one of the most widespread and troublesome agricultural weeds in the world.

Jacob Barney
Dr. Jacob Barney

Native to the Mediterranean region, Johnsongrass has spread across every continent except Antarctica. It was introduced to the U.S. in the 1800s as a forage crop, but it quickly spread into surrounding farmland and natural environments, where it continues to cause millions of dollars in lost agricultural revenue each year, according to the USDA.

“Weeds like Johnsongrass are a major challenge for agricultural producers around the world,” said Andrew Paterson, Regents Professor, director of UGA’s Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory and principal investigator for the project. “To make matters worse, widespread adoption of herbicide-resistant crops has been associated with a dramatic increase in herbicide-resistant weeds. With 21 genetically similar but different types of Johnsongrass known to be resistant to herbicides, it will only become more problematic in the future.”

Apart from its resistance to herbicides, the naturalization of Johnsongrass across much of the U.S. has also allowed the plant to develop attributes—such as cold and drought tolerance, resistance to pathogens and the ability to flourish in low-fertility soils—that make it particularly difficult to control.

Over the course of their five-year project, the researchers will work to develop a better understanding of the weed’s capabilities and the underlying genes that make Johnsongrass so resilient.

This information may lead to new management strategies that target and curb its growth, providing farmers with a more robust toolkit to combat the invasive plant.

Apart from its resistance to herbicides, the naturalization of Johnsongrass across much of the U.S. has also allowed the plant to develop attributes—such as cold and drought tolerance, resistance to pathogens and the ability to flourish in low-fertility soils—that make it particularly difficult to control.

Over the course of their five-year project, the researchers will work to develop a better understanding of the weed’s capabilities and the underlying genes that make Johnsongrass so resilient.

This information may lead to new management strategies that target and curb its growth, providing farmers with a more robust toolkit to combat the invasive plant.

But the researchers also hope that learning more about the fundamental structures that give Johnsongrass its unusual resilience will pave the way for new genetic tools to improve useful plants, such as sorghum, a close relative of Johnsongrass that is grown widely for food, animal fodder and as a source of biofuel.

“The close relationship between sorghum and Johnsongrass poses both a challenge and an opportunity,” said Paterson, who is housed in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “The two species are so closely related that no herbicides distinguish between them, making control of Johnsongrass in or near sorghum fields especially difficult.

“Regardless, the lessons we learn from Johnsongrass may lead to strategies to improve sorghum and other major crops.”

Other researchers working on this project include Jacob Barney, Virginia Tech; Jeff Dahlberg, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources; C. Michael Smith, Kansas State University; Wesley Everman, North Carolina State University; Marnie Rout, University of Texas, Temple; and Clint Magill and Gary Odvody, Texas A&M University.”

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Invasive Species

Jacob Barney’s Biological Invasions class enjoys an Invasive Species Banquet

From VT News: 

BLACKSBURG, Va., Dec. 10, 2015 – Rose Peterson of Norfolk, Virginia, was recently whipping up some pesto, which is generally made with basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese.

But the Virginia Tech senior skipped the basil and instead substituted garlic mustard, a common weed that is one of many invasive plants that are not only ubiquitous, but also delicious.

“Garlic mustard grows commonly in lawns,” said Peterson, who harvested some from her aunt’s house in New Jersey over Thanksgiving break. “You could probably forage some on the Drillfield, too.”

Peterson, who is majoring in biology, made the dish for her biological invasions class at Virginia Tech. For their end of the semester project, students had to not only tell the history of invasive species, they had to cook up a delectable dish to share with the class taught by Jacob Barney.

Dr. Jacob Barney
Dr. Jacob Barney

“I wanted students to get a sense of why and how people move species around from this class,” said Barney, assistant professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “The species we have now were introduced a long time ago, and it’s not always cut-and-dry as to whether or not these species are bad. It really depends on the eye of the beholder.”

Some of the invasive species plats du jour on the menu at the potluck included Kangaroo chili, wild boar Chinese dumplings, fried catfish, autumn olive cheesecake bars, Foxgrape wine and coffee cupcakes, and Red Swamp Crawfish.

Any species — be it flora, fauna, or bacteria — can be invasive by spreading and pushing out native organisms.

“Many of these species can have a detrimental ecological and economic impact,” said Barney. “But at the same time many of them are edible.”

Not only are invasive species edible, the students in Barney’s class proved these space invaders are downright tasty.

Daniel Steger, of Rochester, New York, a senior majoring in crop and soil environmental sciences, made Italian sausage soup with meat he harvested from a feral hog. Feral hogs are widely considered to be a nuisance from Texas to Florida because of their tendency to root for food and destroy agricultural crops.

“I learned that invasive species are not always a bad thing,” said Steger who regularly hunts feral hogs on managed land.

Even the much reviled kudzu plant has antioxidant properties and in Japanese cuisine, kudzu powder is used as a thickening agent.

The span of dishes prepared by the students reflects a trend in the world of haute cuisine that sees invasive species encroaching on another peculiar habitat: fine-dining restaurants.

Some chefs have started introducing menu items that feature invasive species, such as lime-cured Asian carp ceviche or fried coconut-fried Lion Fish. The point of dishes like these is to raise awareness of sustainability issues and make consumers aware that food resources are finite — and that eating invasives can be tasty and nutritious.

According to the Institute of Applied Ecology, invasive species cost the U.S. over $120 billion annually, and more than $1.4 trillion worldwide, with the annual cost of impact and control efforts equaling five percent of the world’s economy. Their website appliedecology.org, touts the motto, “eradication by mastication,” and features a cookbook called, “They’re Cooked: Recipes to Combat Invasive Species.”

Among plant pathologists there is still a debate about how and when to categorize something as invasive because until the longevity of a species can be documented, it’s difficult to tell whether it is coming or going.

Back in the classroom, graduate student Steve Haring’s nondairy poppy seed ice cream with burnt honey was going fast among his classmates.

“My first batch was pretty icy,” said the plant pathology, physiology, and weed science major from Arlington, Virginia, “so I added poppy seeds.”

His ice cream was made from hemp milk, poppy seeds, and Buckthorn honey, which comes from bees feeding off of the weed that is toxic to animals.

But his dish was far from toxic. He took home first place for the most creative dish in the class and earned ten percent extra credit on his final exam. The most delicious dish award went to Logan Holland, of Franktown, Virginia, a senior majoring in crop and soil environmental sciences, who made caribou sausage.

Is it ever possible to erase invasive species through culinary endeavors? Not likely, says Barney. Invasive species are here to stay no matter how much you pile on your plate.

His students, however, have made a delicious dent.

Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the science and business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives more than 3,100 students in a dozen academic departments a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. Students learn from the world’s leading agricultural scientists, who bring the latest science and technology into the classroom.

Written by Amy Loeffler

Additional press:

WVTF Public Radio interview: Invasive Species Banquet: If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em!”

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Accolades Invasive Species News

Jacob Barney receives Outstanding Researcher Award from NWSS

jbarney_NWSS award
Dr. Jacob Barney and his graduate student, Larissa Smith, recently received NWSS awards

Jacob Barney, Assistant Professor in Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science (PPWS), received the Outstanding Researcher Award at the Northeastern Weed Science Society’s (NEWSS) 69th Annual Meeting in Williamsburg, VA on January 5, 2015.

Dr. Barney and his collaborators have published numerous peer-reviewed papers in journals that include a wide variety of ecology, weed science, bioenergy, and policy/law research. He has been invited to speak around the world and has served as advisor to various industry and government agencies. To date, his research program has been awarded >$1.6M in grants, including two USDA grants.

Dr. Barney is extremely proud of the students he has mentored. His students have won various awards and grants, including first place undergrad in the Weed Olympics, several top places in the Northeast and Southern Weed Contests, as well as several top places in the NEWSS student paper contest. One of Jacob’s current students, Larissa Smith, received the Robert D. Sweet Outstanding Graduate Student Award at the same NWSS meeting in January.

Barney is very active in NEWSS, WSSA, and several groups at Virginia Tech, including being an Associate Editor for Invasive Plant Science and Management. His current research program includes projects on the evolution of weediness, niche modeling, spatial simulation models, mineland reclamation, invasive plant eradication, and identifying the ecological impact of invaders.

Congratulatlions, Jacob!

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Categories
Global Change Invasive Species

Scott Salom’s invasive species research featured on VT News

The Laricobius osakensis beetle was first released in the United States in November 2012, after six years of study under quarantine. The beetle will feed upon the woolly adelgid, an insect that has been decimating hemlock trees in the eastern U.S. for decades. The beetleâ??s introduction could help save our native eastern hemlocks.

From VT NEWS:

Scott Salom, a professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has worked for years to develop ways to combat the woolly adelgid and save hemlock trees.

In 2013, he and his team of researchers released one of the hemlock woolly adelgid’s predators from its native habitat in Japan into the woods in Virginia and West Virginia. If all goes as planned, the beetle will be another tool that resource managers will have to save the treasured trees.

“We don’t want to lose the hemlocks, and we have to explore every avenue we can to save them,” Salom said. “This is a battle we feel compelled to take on.”

The Laricobius osakensis beetle was discovered in Japan in 2005, where it was feasting on the hemlock woolly adelgid and keeping its population in check. Salom obtained a permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bring the beetles to Virginia Tech, where they were under quarantine for six years. During that time, he did a series of tests to ensure that the beetle wouldn’t harm other native species and would indeed go after the hemlock woolly adelgid.

In 2010, Salom got approval to release the beetles. In fall 2012, his team placed 500 into two sites where the adelgids were wreaking havoc. In 2013, 6,000 beetles were released at five additional sites, adding Maryland and Pennsylvania to the state lists.

Read the full article here.

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Invasive Species New Courses

New Course: Biological Invasions

Fall Semester 2014

Dr. Jacob Barney, will offer BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS, PPWS 4604 and 5604G, during fall semester 2014. The course will explore the historical, conceptual, mechanistic, societal, and political components of invasive species. The course begins with Darwin and ends with the “Homogocene”, covering the invasion process from introduction to ecological or economic impact and all components in between.