Data for McTavish et al. Current status of biological control of introduced Phragmites in Canada

Data for McTavish et al. publication "Current status of biological control of introduced Phragmites in Canada". This manuscript reports on the first several years of the biological control program for introduced Phragmites (Phragmites australis australis) in Canada. The study includes an overview of long-term monitoring data across 30 release sites, an investigation of within-site distribution of agent feeding damage, and an experiment to determine the optimal release densities for the biological control agents. 

Tab 1 covers basic monitoring data from the first year of release, including the site name, release year, and the number of damaged stems found in a 0.65 m diameter sampling plot centered on each release point.

Tab 2 covers follow-up monitoring data at a patch level from years two and three. The numbers of damaged stems are recorded across a series of 4 x 1 m monitoring intervals. Data includes the monitoring year, the number of monitoring intervals per site, the damage coverage (i.e., % of monitoring intervals that have damaged stems), mean damage +/- SD (i.e., the number of damaged stems per square meter in the monitoring intervals), the Variance to Mean Ratio for damage across the site, and the raw counts of damaged stems found in each of the monitoring intervals.

Tab 3 contains similar monitoring data to Tab 2 for seven sites but includes monitoring data collected from either the patch interior or perimeter for comparison. 

Tab 4 contains data from an experiment assessing the impacts of different larval release densities on damage outcomes. Data include site names, the larval density treatment level, the number of damaged stems found in a 0.65 m diameter plot around the release plus during a 2 minute timed search around the plot, the density of living introduced Phragmites stems found around the release point, and the mean height of those stems.