by S Bennett
Resource Type: Thesis
Source: UC Santa Barbara Master's Thesis
Grades: Middle School and High School
The shothole borer is a highly destructive, invasive pest that has killed hundreds of thousands of trees in recent years. The beetle bores into trees and releases a fungus that eats away at the tree from the inside. What conditions increase the destructiveness of this pest? This Master’s thesis describes a simple study to assess whether the beetle causes more damage in water-stressed vs well-watered trees (answer: no) or in trees of different species (answer: yes, probably based on the density of the wood).
Phenomena:
Invasive pests
DCIs:
LS2.A: Interdependent relationships in ecosystems
LS2.C: Ecosystems dynamics, functioning, and resilience
LS4.C: Adaptation
LS4.D: Biodiversity and humans
Notes:
- A straightforward experimental design.
- Lots of good charts.
- Clear differences in susceptibility by tree species.
- An unexpected failed hypothesis (water availability did not affect pest damage to trees)
- Good introduction to predatory relationships (beetle vs tree) and mutually beneficial relationship (beetle vs fungus)
Driving questions:
- What are the competitive, predatory, and/or mutually beneficial relationships among the trees, the beetles and the fungus? (MS)
- What conditions of the physical environment contribute to the damage caused by the beetles? (HS)
Topics: California, invasive species, natural selection, pests and diseases, plant water needs, and shothole borer
Features: charts, data table, line graph, p values, regression lines, and statistical tests