#Insect pests more plentiful in hotter parts of city than in cooler areashigher temperatures in cities can be a key driver of insect pest outbreaks on trees in urban areas according to research published March 27
Meineke explains that Urban warming can lead to higher insect pest abundance a result of pest acclimation or adaptation to higher temperatures.
since current urban warming is similar in magnitude to the higher temperatures predicted by global warming in the next fifty years their results may indicate potential changes in pest abundance as natural forests also grow warmer.
Unchecked the pest burrows into potato roots to feed obstructing nutrients and causing stunted growth wilted leaves and other symptoms that can eventually kill the plant.
if the pest can't be controlled. While ongoing studies explore pesticide-based approaches to control D. suzukii the new research from NC State should help scientists and farmers with other control options.
and other so-called integrated pest management (IPM) measures scientists have concluded. Their study appears in the ACS'journal Environmental science & Technology.
Chensheng Lu and colleagues cite previous studies showing that urban low-income multifamily public housing dwellings are prone to severe pest infestation problems.
Families in Boston public housing developments for instance rank pest infestation pesticide use and pest allergies second only to crime as matters of concern.
along with indications--such as sighting of live pests or pest debris--that traditional pesticides were not effective.
and randomly selected homes in the U s. should accentuate the need for alternative pest management programs the report states.
IPM focuses on eliminating the cause of pest infestations by minimizing access to food water hiding places
and other openings in walls to prevent entry of pests. The authors acknowledge funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
and vegetation productivity in some parts of the North as the ramifications of amplified greenhouse effect--including permafrost thawing frequent forest fires outbreak of pest infestations
while others are pest resistant. At a genetic level there were ten genes which contained differences between these leaves.
and engineers may have found a way to prevent the spread of the pests. Emerald ash borers (EABS) a type of beetle native to Asia first appeared in the U s. about 20 years ago.
They also ran a pilot test in Hungary with a related beetle pest that bores into oak trees.
If pest control measures aren't taken these annual plants can serve as amplifiers producing lots of viruses
#Advance promises to expand biological control of crop pestsa new discovery promises to allow expanded use of a mainstay biological pest control method
and pest-resistance concerns of traditional insecticides scientists are reporting. The advance toward broadening applicability of the so-called sterile insect technique (SIT) appears in the journal ACS Synthetic biology.
Farmers usually battle these pests with traditional insects with little use of SIT despite its many advantages.
thus reducing the population of pests. Alphey's team focused on eliminating major drawbacks that discourage wider use of SIT:
thus reducing the pest populations. They developed the lethal genetic sexing system in two pests the pink bollworm which damages cotton crops and the diamondback moth
which attacks broccoli cabbage and other cruciferous vegetable crops. The approach could be used on other pests as well they state.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and a greater reliance on pesticides and fungicides to keep pests in check. Vandermeer suspects that the shift to sun coffee may be contributing to the severity of the latest coffee rust outbreak.
Their research confirms that having lots of species in an area helps ecosystems avoid irreversible collapse after human disturbances such as climate change or pest invasion.
#Benefits of Bt corn go beyond rootworm resistanceengineered to produce the bacterial toxin Bt Bt corn resists attack by corn rootworm a pest that feeds on roots
#Pest uses plant hairs for protection: Trichomes save insect from beetle predationeveryone needs to eat.
The pest is called the cycad aulacaspis scale and its invasion into numerous countries in recent years has caused immeasurable loss of biodiversity.
and the pest requires a cycad plant for food. The insect's recent invasion to the island of Guam has endangered the island's endemic cycad species. Local biologists introduced a voracious beetle predator to the island to eat the scale insects
but the plant damage by the pest has persisted. We began looking into the reasons that the beetle was failing to control the pest
and discovered that the pest could crawl between the plant's trichomes to reach its feeding sites said UOG Professor Thomas Marler.
Trichomes are what biologists call the hairs that can be found on many plant leaves and stems.
The glitch in this situation was that the insect that was excluded by the plant hairs was our beneficial insect that eats the scale pest
and the insect that could just walk straight through the hairs was the very pest we wished to control said Marler.
This particular plant-pest-predator relationship has drawn the attention of biologists in the Western Pacific Tropical Research center at the University of Guam
because this pest is threatening cycad populations in other countries. Lessons learned on Guam may benefit cycad conservationists in those other countries.
Schal adds that there could be pest-control implications to the findings. An insecticide mist
During lettuce and broccoli production Brennan ensured all systems received the same fertilizer and irrigation inputs and pest management.
but sugar maple trees appear to be relatively resistant to the European pest. Biologists wondered whether the caterpillars shun sugar maples in part
and forestry to improve the resistance of plants to insect pests he said. In the short term though this is basic research that is driven by the curiosity of ecologists to understand nature better.
The ability to literally walk out the door to work on tree defenses against pests like the gypsy moth coupled with an abundance of undergraduate talent makes the U-M campus an ideal location for studies in insect chemical ecology Barbehenn said.
Bark beetles are the most destructive forest pests worldwide. Management and climate change have resulted in younger denser forests that are even more susceptible to attack.
and for predators that eat both beetle species. The authors suggest that other pest species with catastrophic impacts may also have natural dynamics that include a tipping point between the bipolar population states.
The spread could be harmful to lemur populations that have encountered never these pests before and lack resistance to the diseases they carry.
The structural sanitation and pest infestation problems documented in these kitchens are interrelated said the study's lead author Sara A. Quandt Ph d. a professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest Baptist.
They found violations of eight regulations in at least 10 percent of the camps across a broad spectrum--structure water supply kitchen equipment sanitation and pest infestation.
#Genome of diamondback moth provides new clues for sustainable pest managementan international research consortium led by Fujian Agriculture Forestry University (FAFU)
and BGI has completed the first genome sequence of the diamondback moth (DBM) the most destructive pest of brassica crops.
and opens new ways for more sustainable pest management. The latest study was published online January 13 in Nature Genetics.
The work here also provides an invaluable resource for scientists to better understand the reasons why DBM is such a serious pest
and how new strategies can be developed to control insect pests. In this study researchers sequenced the genome of DBM by whole genome shotgun (WGS)
The clever evolutionary trick has allowed DBM to become such a serious pest and it may play an important role in the development of its ability to detoxify a wide range of chemicals.
I expect we could translate our achievements into real actions for sustainable pest management in the near future.
and can hamper the appearance of crop pests thus minimizing the use of pesticides. Neiker-Tecnalia researchers isolated autochthonous bacterial strains belonging to soil samples and plant tissue.
and resistance to insect pests and diseases but whether or not diverse forests are adapted also better to deal with drought stress remains unknown.
But contrary to popular belief these pests may not be to blame for more severe wildfires like those that have swept recently through the region.
Plants use defenses against pests, but they dont always worksugars are usually known as energy storage units in plants
When the researchers examined the frass of these pests â pests that cause enormous crop damage â they found the toxin with sugar still attached.
or detoxification of toxic substances Not only have contributed such adaptations to the vast diversification of insects in the course of evolution they also support the success of agricultural pests specialized on certain crop plants that jeopardize crop yields every year.
With the abundance of maize grown throughout the world it is not surprising that the crop has many insect pests including larvae of the Genus spodoptera.
In North and South america the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda is an important maize pest causing considerable damage.
and Jonathan Gershenzon from the Department of Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena Germany have discovered recently a previously unknown detoxification strategy in these pest insects.
The increasing resistance of pest insects to Bt is another reason to look deeper into the natural insect adaptations against plant defenses.
If we can better understand how much this gut enzyme has helped the fall armyworm to become such a dangerous pest on maize we may be able to use this to our advantage by impairing this insect enzyme
and restoring the full defensive potential of maize against these pests says Daniel Giddings Vassã£o.
If the researchers can obtain a more comprehensive picture of how benzoxazinoids are metabolized in pest insects they may be able to design better strategies to reduce pest damage.
and lay eggs in the pest insectâ#said Dr. Michael Kolomiets Texas A&m Agrilife Research plant pathologist in College Station.
and secondary metabolites either to repel the pest or make itself less appetizing he said.
Lady beetles eat a major soybean pest the soybean aphid. Barton grew plots of soybeans in alfalfa fields protecting some with wind blocks
And the wind research may present other opportunities for pest control. By growing trees or not harvesting them around a field you may be able to have an indirect effect on the number of aphids on your soybean plants says Barton who wonders what other close animal relationships may be disrupted by shifting winds.
Longer or shorter growing seasons influence the type of crops that are planted the pests that are present
Regionally this species can be a serious agricultural pest; however it appears to reach its distributional limits in extremely cold or hot areas.
But growers outside the U s. should also focus on developing an integrated management program that considers factors such as optimum planting dates plant densities and pest management.
The European grape berry moth and the cicada Scaphoideus titanus are considered to be the major pests of cultivated grape.
or plant growing regulators to protect their crops against pests and diseases. But used in a wrong way pesticides can pose a risk to humans and the surrounding environment.
At the Fondazione Edmund Mach in Italy Ilaria Pertot and her team of the EU research project PURE have found ways to reduce the high pesticide rate in the European grapevine sector by disturbing the mating processes of the pests.
The use of special vibrations and the odor of pheromones will in future help to prevent an offspring of the pests
what the U s. Department of agriculture Forest Service claims to be the most destructive forest pest ever seen in North america said Michael Domingue postdoctoral fellow in entomology Penn State.
Early detection of the pest in traps such as ours can help in coordinating management strategies to slow its spread
and similar pests in ways that can help to trap them and monitor where they might be doing damage.
and mitigation of invasive pests he said. The researchers said their next step will be to further improve the traps to maximize their potential as part of an early detection tool for emerald ash borers.
so that activity of the pest can be reported and assessed immediately by APHIS personnel rather than waiting days
and potentially invasive pest species effectively said Domingue. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Penn State.
-and pest-resistance traits of other grasses using a legion of genetic tools that can reduce crop losses
#Potato ravaging pest controlled with fungiapproximately six thousand hectares of Veracruz in the west coast of Mexico are dedicated to the production of potato (Solanum tuberosum) in
the only options for control of the pest farmers have had are highly toxic chemicals many of them severely restricted.
therefore a biological pest control was achieved the use of chemicals ceased and agriculture on the region improved.
She also mentiones that the science team at INECOL also works in changing habits and customs of farmers that favor the introduction and spread of agricultural pests and diseases mainly in the region of the Cofre de Perote;
The Biodiversity and Systematics Network is currently studying the major pest problems for the bean (Vicia faba) one of the crops used for rotation in the highlands of the state using the same bionematicide and some other biocontrol agents.
and has gone so far as to establish the economic value of pest-eating birds and crop-pollinating bees.
Different species specialize in keeping different pest insects under control in pollinating the many flowering trees and other plants in tropical landscapes and then in dispersing their seeds.
because it takes into account how unwanted pests or pathogens may adapt rapidly to our interventions
Not considering such aspects may result in outcomes opposite of those desired making the pests more resistant to our actions humans more exposed to diseases
For example farmers in the United states and Australia have used planting of pest-friendly refuges to delay evolution of insect resistance to genetically engineered corn and cotton.
These genetically modified crops kill certain pests but without refuges the pests quickly adapt. Providing refuges of conventional plants has been especially effective for suppressing resistance in the pink bollworm an invasive pest of cotton.
However Peter Jørgensen also cautions: In many cases decision makers must pay more attention to assuring that long-term benefits of applying these solutions do not come at a short-term cost for some individuals for example from yield loss due to localised effects of pests in a particular year.
By encouraging cost sharing local communities and governments play a crucial role in ensuring that everybody gains from the benefits of using evolutionary biology to realise the long-term goals of sustainable development such as increasing food security protecting biodiversity
Their adaptive traits can be transferred to crops to improve tolerance to extreme environmental conditions and exposure to different pests and diseases
The wild relatives of crops however contain many useful traits such as drought tolerance yield improvement and resilience to pests and diseases.
which is pest of cereal crops; Saccharum arundinaceum is a relative of sugar cane and can survive very low temperatures
but it is critical to conserve them in their natural habitat as they will continue to adapt to changes in the climate as well as threats from pests and diseases.''
After a decade-long effort scientists from the Integrated Pest Management Innovation Lab released a parthenium-eating beetle called Zygogramma bicolorata.
and breeds only on parthenium leaves said Muni Muniappan director of the Integrated Pest Management Innovation Lab a program funded by the U s. Agency for International Development.
In North america it has become a major agricultural pest across a wide range of commodities. The insect is capable of eating more than 100 different plant species
Now a new open-access article in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management describes available management options for this invasive pest species as well as information about its origin
and spread its pest status in other invaded regions descriptions of its life stages and biology its chemical ecology and the types of damage it does to various host plants.
They also discuss different chemical control options that can be used successfully in integrated pest management programs.
To return to an integrated approach to managing all pests in the crops affected by H. halys growers require a more sustainable strategy for chemical control that combines efficient use of insecticides with a better understanding of its biology and behavior according to the authors.
Genetic analysis sheds new light on the survival of whiteflies in Finland and helps to plan efficient pest management.
and ecology of greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) in her thesis. Greenhouse whitefly is a widespread invasive pest which has occurred in Finland since the year 1920.
Carefully planned pest management reduces crop damages. Genetic analyses revealed that the same whitefly populations persist in the majority of the sampled greenhouses for two years.
Formation of these races may increase pest abundance and lead to a higher extent of crop damage Ovcarenko says.
Despite initial signs of host race formation whiteflies prefer natural species to cultivated crops as host plants which could facilitate pest dispersal into natural vegetation in spring.
Biological pest control pays offthe study showed that resistance to common insecticide pymetrozine varies considerably among the Finnish whitefly populations.
Therefore Ovcarenko recommends pest management should start at individual company level by maintaining pest free surroundings and monitoring for early detection of the pest.
If biological pest control was used whitefly populations were more susceptible to insecticides whereas whiteflies from greenhouses treated with insecticides over the years showed initial signs of resistance development.
Co-operation is the key for sustainable pest management. To reduce pest dispersal potential to other greenhouse agroecosystems synchrony in pest monitoring exterminations
and crop rotations among crop producers is advised Ovcarenko concludes. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by MTT Agrifood Research Finland.
and many of the benefits that come from the forest's ecosystem such as pest control and pollination.
#Charting the global invasion of crop pestsmany of the world's most important crop-producing countries will be saturated fully with pests by the middle of the century
More than one-in-ten pest types can already be found in around half the countries that grow their host crops.
If this spread advances at its current rate scientists fear that a significant proportion of global crop-producing countries will be overwhelmed by pests within the next 30 years.
Crop pests include fungi bacteria viruses insects nematodes viroids and oomycetes. The research published in the journal Global Ecology
and trends in their spread using global databases to investigate the factors that influence the number of countries reached by pests and the number of pests in each country.
If crop pests continue to spread at current rates many of the world's biggest crop producing nations will be inundated by the middle of the Century posing a grave threat to global food security.
The study identifies the pests likely to be the most invasive in coming years including:
The study looked at the current distributions of 1901 crop pests and pathogens and historical observations of a further 424 species. Significant use was made of historical CABI records which document crop pests and diseases around the world from 1822 to the present day.
Dr Timothy Holmes Head of Technical Solutions at CABI's Plantwise knowledge bank said: By unlocking the potential to understand the distribution of crop pests
and diseases we're moving one step closer to protecting our ability to feed a growing global population.
It supports the view of previous studies that climate change is likely to significantly affect pest pressure on agriculture with the warming Earth having a clear influence on the distribution of crop pests.
-and-mouse as crops are introduced to pest free regions and briefly thrive before their pursuers catch up with them.
New virulent variants of pests are constantly evolving. Their emergence is favoured by increased pest population sizes and their rapid life-cycles
which force diversified selection and heralds the appearance of new aggressive genotypes. There is hope if robust plant protection strategies
#Museum specimens, modern cities show how an insect pest will respond to climate changeresearchers from North carolina State university have found that century-old museum specimens hold clues to how global climate change
will affect a common insect pest that can weaken and kill trees --and the news is not good.
and maple trees in warmer urban areas which raises the possibility that these pests may also increase with global warming says Dr. Elsa Youngsteadt a research associate at NC State
and shrubs were regarded now as identical to their distant Australian relatives all of which are serious agricultural pests known there as Burgan.
#Genetically engineered fruit flies could save cropsreleasing genetically engineered fruit flies into the wild could prove to be a cheap effective and environmentally friendly way of pest control according to scientists at the University of East Anglia andâ Oxitecâ Ltd.
The Mediterranean fruit fly is a serious agricultural pest which causes extensive damage to crops. It is controlled currently by a combination of insecticides baited traps biological control
It is a real pest to agriculture and causes extreme damage to crops all around the world. â#oeof all of the current techniques used to control these flies SIT is considered the most environmentally friendly as it uses sterile males to interrupt matings between wild males and females.
but they are only capable of producing male offspring after mating with local pest females -which rapidly reduces the number of crop-damaging females in the population.
The surviving males are released mate with local wild pest females and pass the female specific self-limiting trait onto the progeny resulting in no viable female offspring.
Daniel Nicodemo professor of ecology and beekeeping at the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Dracena Brazil and lead author of the study states These insecticides affect the nervous system of pest
There are pest pressures 24/7 soils are poor there's an extreme rainy season distance to markets is great and road conditions are very rough.
By understanding the entire genus at a genome level we have a whole new pool of genetic variation that can be used to combat pests
One example he said would be adding disease resistance genes from all of the wild rice varieties to a species of cultivated rice creating a new super-crop that is resistant to diseases and pests.
and pests like the filbert weevil and filbert moth harbored by the duff and litter on the ground.
People strategically burned in the fall after the first rain to hit a vulnerable time in the life cycle of the pests
and one of the first conducted within the United states. Effective in killing a broad range of insect pests use of neonicotinoid insecticides has increased dramatically over the last decade across the United states particularly in the Midwest.
#Urban heat boosts some pest populations 200-fold, killing red maplesnew research from North carolina State university shows that urban heat islands are slowly killing red maples in the southeastern United states. One factor is that researchers have found warmer temperatures increase the number
of young produced by the gloomy scale insect--a significant tree pest--by 300 percent which in turn leads to 200 times more adult gloomy scales on urban trees.
These findings also raise concerns about potential pest outbreaks as temperatures increase due to global climate change.
We wanted to look at the most important pest species of the most common tree species in urban areas of the southeastern United states says Dr. Steve Frank an assistant professor of entomology at NC State and senior author of the papers.
This can diminish predator and parasitoid communities and their ability to control pests. However it also makes cities hotter than rural areas.
and other pest species. The research on scale insect abundance is published in Urban warming trumps natural enemy regulation of herbivorous pests which is forthcoming from the journal Ecological Applications.
when weather or pests create shortages. In addition some 30 to 50 percent of food is wasted worldwide.
This resource is invaluable for identifying those genes that control complex traits such as yield grain quality disease pest resistance and abiotic stress tolerance.
Ashot Khrimian and colleagues explain that the brown marmorated stink bug also known as Halyomorpha halys is an invasive pest from Asia that now is found in most of the U s as well as parts of Canada and Europe.
and pests says senior scientist Per Kryger from the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University.
and polyphenols to defend against pest attacks and related injuries. In people phenols and polyphenols can help prevent diseases triggered
#New recreational travel model to help states stop firewood assisted insect travelthe spread of damaging invasive forest pests is powered only partially by the insects'own wings.
The study Using a Network Model to Assess Risk of Forest Pest Spread via Recreational Travel was published July 9 in the journal PLOS ONE
and destination locations for a camper-transported pest. Summary maps for the 48 contiguous U s. states and seven Canadian provinces showed the most likely origins of campers traveling from outside the target state or province.
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