Emily Schultz

A Thursday talk will cover how native insects may help in the fight against invasive weeds.

Northwest College Assistant Professor of Biology Emily Schultz will present a virtual Draper Natural History Museum Lunchtime Expedition from noon to 1 p.m. Schultz’s Zoom lecture is titled, “Natural defense systems in the fight against invasive species.” To register for the talk, visit www.bit.ly/3kstc1l.

Understanding the role of consumers in density-dependent plant population dynamics is a long-standing goal in ecology, Schultz said, and is important for understanding the role herbivores play in the suppression of invasive species. However, she said the generality of herbivory effects across heterogeneous landscapes is poorly understood due to the pervasive influence of context dependence.

Schulz’s team tested effects of native insect herbivory on the population dynamics of an exotic thistle, Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle), in a field experiment that was replicated across eight sites in eastern Nebraska.

Using density-dependent population models, the team found potential for “explosive” low-density population growth and complex density fluctuations when herbivores were excluded. However, herbivore access drove populations down, suppressing complex fluctuations. 

While plant-herbivore interaction outcomes are famously context-dependent, Schultz said the project demonstrated that herbivores suppressed potentially invasive populations. Their novel modeling approach shows that native insect herbivores consistently prevent hard-to-predict fluctuations of weeds in environments otherwise susceptible to invasion.

Schultz started her career in ecology at Scripps College, studying interactions between native and invasive plants in southern California. After college, Schultz traveled the world as a research assistant, before completing her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice University.

After graduate school, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona. To date, Schultz has helped study the cascading effects of the brown tree snake introduction on Guam, the recovery of endemic plant population following invasive herbivore removal on the California Channel Islands, and the effects on climate change on pine distributions.

Schultz is currently an assistant professor of biology at Northwest College, where she teaches general biology, plant and fungal biology, and forest management.