Mary Gardiner

The Ohio State University | OSU · Department of Entomology

Urban green spaces can provide important wildlife habitat and ecosystem services. In legacy cities, built structures are demolished as populations dwindle, resulting in vacant land. Vacant land constitutes an opportunity to establish green infrastructure that provides multiple ecosystem services. Our objective was to determine whether establishing...

Cities are generally hotter than surrounding rural areas due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. These increases in temperature advance plant and animal phenology, development, and reproduction in the spring. However, research determining how increased temperatures affect the seasonal physiology of animals in the fall has been limited. The North...

As a result of their industrial past, legacy cites often have elevated concentrations of soil heavy metal contamination. Metal pollution can have negative and prolonged ecosystem impacts, and bees that forage in these urban ecosystems are at risk of exposure. Legacy cities are known to support species rich bee communities, which highlights the impo...

Sustainable landscaping programs are voluntary initiatives that recommend a set of practices to improve the environmental quality of urban ecosystems by providing landscaping materials, guidelines, and educational resources. Our goal was to examine the recommendations and outcomes of these programs in the United States and their value for encouragi...

Aim: Understanding drivers of insect population declines is essential for the development of successful conservation plans, but data limitations restrict assessment across spatial and temporal scales. Museum records represent a unique source of historical data that can be leveraged to investigate temporal trends in insect communities. Native lady b...

Aim Understanding drivers of insect population declines is essential for the development of successful conservation plans, but data limitations restrict assessment across spatial and temporal scales. Museum records represent a unique source of historical data that can be leveraged to investigate temporal trends in insect communities. Native lady be...

Heavy metal contamination is a byproduct of many industrial and urbanization processes and has been found to have negative and prolonged impacts on biota. Cities are oftentimes contaminated with heavy metals, however, also support a diversity of bee species. Currently, little is known about the impacts of heavy metal contamination on bee fitness. B...

Managing urban green space as part of an ongoing social-ecological transformation poses novel governance issues, particularly in post-industrial settings. Urban green spaces operate as small-scale nodes in larger networks of ecological reserves that provide and maintain key ecosystem services such as pollination, water retention and infiltration, a...

Shrinking cities hold large quantities of previously-built vacant land due to home foreclosure and subsequent population loss. While urban vacant lands have been shown to support biodiversity and ecosystem services, they also pose challenges for stakeholders, including high management costs. In Cleveland, OH, individuals and citizen groups have con...

Biological control is a vital ecosystem service provided by a diverse guild of predators in agroecosystems. Biodiversity is thought to be linked to ecosystem functioning through more efficient resource capture and niche partitioning. Understanding the factors that impact the diversity of these predators is therefore important to our understanding o...

Lady beetles (Coccinellidae) are one of the most charismatic insects that also provide important economic benefits through the biological control of crop pests. This group of predators also offers a great opportunity to study how the introduction of exotic species with a high degree of niche overlap influence native species assemblages. Survey data...

Conservation research has historically been aimed at preserving high value natural habitats, but urbanization and its associated impacts have prompted broader mandates that include the preservation and promotion of biodiversity in cities. Current efforts within urban landscapes aim to support biodiversity and diverse ecosystem services such as stor...

Exotic species are widely accepted as a leading cause of biodiversity decline. Lady beetles (Coccinellidae) provide an important model to study how competitor introductions impact native communities since several native coccinellids have experienced declines that coincide with the establishment and spread of exotic coccinellids. This study tested t...

The expansion of urban areas is occurring globally, but not all city neighborhoods are gaining population. Because of economic decline and the recent foreclosure crisis, many U.S. cities are demolishing abandoned residential structures to create parcels of vacant land. In some cities, weak housing markets have, or will likely, recover in the near t...

Cucumber beetles are the vectors of bacterial wilt in cantaloupe and other cucurbit crops; this devastating disease can reduce yield of cantaloupe by as much as 80%, causing an impact of $13 million annually. Conventional insecticide-based control of cucumber beetles and bacterial wilt is inconsistent, and organic management practices often fail. T...

The use of pesticides can have non-target impacts on predatory arthropods that provide valuable biocontrol services. Determining which pesticides pose the greatest threat to these organisms is important for making informed integrated pest management decisions. The Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) is a model created to determine the holistic effe...

Midwestern urban areas have witnessed population and economic declines resulting in an increased amount of vacant land. In Cleveland, OH citizen groups are redesigning some of these lots to construct community gardens. Little is known about the pollinator communities and the pollination services they provide within urban vacant lands or how they ma...

Native coccinellid decline has been documented worldwide. An elevated level of predation on native coccinellid eggs versus exotic coccinellid eggs has been proposed as a mechanism that may favor the reproductive success of exotic species. Recently, we determined that the native coccinellid Hippodamia convergens incurs significantly greater egg pred...

Due to economic decline and the recent rise in home foreclosure, many U.S. cities are faced with managing large acreages of vacant land. Interest in local food production on this land has the potential to dramatically reshape the composition of greenspace found within urban landscapes. This study examined how the conversion of vacant land to urban...

The establishment and spread of exotic coccinellids coincides with the decline of native coccinellids. Due to this observation, intraguild predation by exotic coccinellids on native coccinellid eggs was proposed as a mechanism for the decline. The objectives of this study were to determine if exotic coccinellids were dominant predators of native la...

Pumpkin production relies on insect-mediated pollination and our goal was to measure the contribution of key pollinators to this service in relation to the surrounding landscapes. We hypothesized that the pollination service provided would vary by bee species and landscapes with a higher proportion of undisturbed habitat in the surrounding landscap...

The city of Cleveland, OH, has over 3,300 acres of vacant land under consideration for a variety of urban revitalization efforts. These include urban garden development, park creation, and natural refuges for wildlife. Land use and management affects a variety of ecosystem services, including those provided by arthropods such as pest control. Spide...

Citizen scientists have the potential to play a crucial role in the study of rapidly changing lady beetle (Coccinellidae) populations. We used data derived from three coccinellid-focused citizen-science programs to examine the costs and benefits of data collection from direct citizen-science (data used without verification) and verified citizen-sci...

Citizen scientists have the potential to play a crucial role in the study of rapidly changing lady beetle (Coccinellidae) populations. We used data derived from three coccinellid-focused citizen-science programs to examine the costs and benefits of data collection from direct citizen-science (data used without verification) and verified citizen-sci...

Pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) host a distinct community of pests and natural enemies in Ohio. Our goal was to determine if a relationship exists between semi-natural habitat additions and crop performance by measuring biocontrol. To accomplish this we planted 2 x 200 ft rows of an annual, sweet alyssum (Lobularia maratima), adjacent to 4 x 200 ft rows...

The decline of native coccinellid populations coincides with the establishment of exotic coccinellids. This led to the proposal of interference competition via intraguild predation (IGP) of native species by exotic coccinellids as a hypothesis to explain the decline. This hypothesis has been supported in laboratory experiments which have shown that...

Coccinellids are key predators which provide biocontrol services within natural and managed habitats. Following the establishment of exotic coccinellids in the U.S., a decline in native coccinellid species has been detected. This decline represents a threat to biodiversity and pest management. The goal of this project was to engage volunteers to ce...

Widespread occurrence of the invasive shrub common buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica, has resulted in cascading negative impacts across the north central United States. Common buckthorn invades natural areas where it directly reduces native biodiversity. In addition, it is the primary overwintering host of the invasive soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, al...

Many urban areas experiencing economic decline, such as Cleveland, Ohio, contain large numbers of vacant lots under consideration for environmental restoration or redesign. Spiders are important natural enemies within these greenspaces and may serve as a model system for understanding how urban land use changes influence animal communities and the...

Coccinellid communities across North America have experienced significant changes in recent decades, with declines in several native species reported. One potential mechanism for these declines is interference competition via intraguild predation; specifically, increased predation of native coccinellid eggs and larvae following the introduction of...

Background/Question/Methods: Within Midwestern cities, decades of job loss and economic decline have resulted in significant areas of vacant land. Currently, there are more than 3,300 acres of vacant land within Cleveland, OH alone. Across the U.S., municipalities are critically examining vacant property, with the goal of incorporating these lands...

Background/Question/Methods Re-Imagining Cleveland as a More Sustainable City is a planning initiative in Cleveland, OH that seeks to re-purpose vacant urban lands for productive, sustainable uses. Cleveland has experienced significant population loss and has accrued a large inventory of surplus properties that contribute to further social instab...

Following the introduction of exotic coccinellid species, a decline in several native lady beetle species has been observed in the United States. Although the cause of native decline is not known, the majority of hypotheses are linked in part to the introduction of exotic competitors. We investigated apparent competition as a mechanism to explain n...

Pumpkin production relies on insect-mediated pollination and our goal was to measure the contribution of key pollinators to this service. To accomplish this, we 1) determined how known amounts of pollen influence fruit set and seed production, 2) quantified the amount of pollen deposited by individual bee species, 3) observed the ambient diversity...

The distribution and abundance of semi-natural and crop habitats within agricultural landscapes is likely to greatly influence population dynamics of ground-dwelling arthropods. We investigated the influence of landscape heterogeneity and composition on the pitfall trap catch of Carabidae, Araneae, and Opiliones in soybean fields. Although we hypot...

Production of biofuel feedstocks in agricultural landscapes will result in land use changes that may have major implications for arthropod-mediated ecosystem services such as pollination and pest suppression. By comparing the abundance and diversity of insect pollinators and generalist natural enemies in three model biofuel crops: corn, switchgrass...

Plant pollination, above and below-ground biological control, and decomposition are critical Arthropod-Mediated Ecosystem Services (AMES). Enhancing the ability of landscapes to support beneficial arthropods and their services is critical, as many native predators and pollinators have declined dramatically in recent decades. The loss of pollinators...

Lady beetles (Coccinellidae) are important natural enemies that provide valuable biological control services in many crops. Recently, observational studies have shown that native coccinellid species are declining in agricultural landscapes. Competitive interactions with exotic lady beetles such as intraguild predation of native eggs and larvae, hav...

Lady beetles (Coccinellidae) are key predators which provide biocontrol services within natural and managed habitats. Following the introduction and establishment of exotic lady beetles in the U.S., a notable decline in several native lady beetle species has been detected. Being that lady beetles are a beneficial group of insects, there is a great...

Aim Coccinellid beetles are important predators that contribute to pest suppression in agricultural landscapes. Since the introduction of the exotic coccinellids Coccinella septempunctata L. and Harmonia axyridis Pallas into the USA, several studies have reported a decline of native Coccinellidae in agroecosystems. We aimed to investigate the influ...

Beneficial arthropods, including native bees, predators, and parasitoids, provide valuable ecosystem services worth $8 billion to US agriculture each year. These arthropod-mediated ecosystem services (AMES) Include crop pollination and pest control, which help to maintain agricultural productivity and reduce the need for pesticide inputs. Maximizin...

Arthropod predators and parasitoids provide valuable ecosystem services in agricultural crops by suppressing populations of insect herbivores. Many natural enemies are influenced by non-crop habitat surrounding agricultural fields, and understanding if, and at what scales, land use patterns influence natural enemies is essential to predicting how l...

Increased demand for corn grain as an ethanol feedstock is altering U.S. agricultural landscapes and the ecosystem services they provide. From 2006 to 2007, corn acreage increased 19% nationally, resulting in reduced crop diversity in many areas. Biological control of insects is an ecosystem service that is strongly influenced by local landscape st...

Most agricultural production systems harbor many species of herbivorous arthropods capable of damaging crops. However, the vast majority of these species do not reach damaging levels. In this chapter we explore the role of predators and parasitoids in suppressing pest abundance and damage. In particular, we focus on factors that influence the abund...

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, has become a principal arthropod pest of soybean in the U.S. since its first detection in 2000. This species threatens soybean production through direct feeding damage and virus transmission. A diverse guild of insect predators feeds on soybean aphid in Michigan including the exotic coccinellid Harmonia...

Since its initial detection near Montreal, Canada in 1984, the variegated lady beetle Hippodamia variegata (Goeze) (Coleoptera:Coccinellidae) has spread throughout the northeastern United States. In 2005, this immigrant Old World species was detected in Michigan for the first time. Twenty-nine adults were found in soybean fields in 4 counties: Ingh...