  Understanding how to limit biological invasion is critical, especially in the
context of accelerating anthropogenic ecological changes. Although biological
invasion success could be explained by the lack of natural enemies in new
regions, recent studies have revealed that resident herbivores often do have a
substantial effect on both native and invasive plants. Very few studies have
included consideration of native plant resistance while estimating methods of
controlling invasion; hence, it is unclear to what extent the interactive
effects of controlling approaches and native plants' resistance could slow down
or even inhibit biological invasion. We developed a spatial modeling framework,
using a paired logistic equation model, with considerations of the dispersal
processes, to capture the dynamics change of native and invasive plants under
various strategies of control. We found that when biocontrol agents could have
a strong effect on invasive plant, that could almost completely limit the
invasion, together with a high native plant resistance. However, a high
application frequency is needed make an efficient impact, whereas, a low
frequency treatment leads to nearly the same outcome as the no treatment case.
Lastly, we showed that evenly controlling a larger area with a weaker effect
still lead to a better outcome than focusing on small patches with a stronger
effect. Overall, this study has some management implications, such as how to
determine the optimal allocation strategy.
