SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: NCERA148 : Migration and Dispersal of Agriculturally Important Biota (NCR-148)
- Period Covered: 10/01/2002 to 10/01/2003
- Date of Report: 09/24/2004
- Annual Meeting Dates: 10/28/2003 to 10/28/2003
Participants
[Minutes]
Accomplishments
Intended Outcomes:Coordination & Linkages--Accomplishments that Promote Interdisciplinary Research:
1. North American Blue Mold Forecasting System, operating at North Carolina State University under the direction of Dr. Charles Main (Blue Mold project) http://www.cips.msu.edu/sfe/Research_additions/NCR2K01/2001NC.htm.
2. Pollen movement for monarch consortium. Arrival of Monarchs and overlap with anthesis.
3. Aster yellows modeling has expanded within the North Central region.
4. Corn borer movement studies with Drs. Hunt and Buschman in Kansas.
5. Development of IPM and IRM programs for whiteflies and their natural enemies in desert agriculture (David Byrne (AZ)) and Japanese beetle in blueberry (Rufus Isaacs (MI)) that include a consideration of migration and dispersal.
6. Weather-Based Assessment of Soybean Rust Threat to North America. Collaborative project funded by APHIS involving Scott Redlin, Roger Magarey, and Scott Redlin (SPHST/APHIS), Charlie Main and Thomas Keever (North American Plant Disease Forecast Center, NCSU), Joseph M. Russo (ZedX Inc), Scott A. Isard (Illinois-now at Penn State) and Stuart H. Gage (MSU). http://soybeanrust.zedxinc.com/.
7. Online information exchange about research and extension activities related to migration and dispersal issues via interactive project websites (e.g., Soybean Aphid Watch and other Pest Watches supported through the North Central Pest Management Center: http://www.pmcenters.org/Northcentral/Saphid/aphidindex.htm.)
Impacts
- 1. Charlie Mains Blue Mold project continues to provide real-time forecasts to growers along the east coast. Evidence of the impact of the projects is provided by the following letter from a Connecticut tobacco farmer.
- 2. Documentation that there was poor overall coincidence between arrival of monarchs/larval activity and overlap of anthesis among Bt-corn was one of several important biological/ecological inputs to the risk assessment process that found the impact of Bt corn pollen from current commercial hybrids on monarch butterfly populations is negligible (see: Impact of Bt corn pollen on monarch butterfly populations: A risk assessment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United State
- 3. The expansion of Aster yellows within the North Central region was modeled with a spatially explicit model simulating leafhopper reproduction, development and movement among individual fields. Simulations demonstrated that both the pattern of long-range dispersal and the arrangement of host and nonhost fields can affect aster yellows epidemics and yield loss. If the source of inoculum is within the production area, insecticidal control of vectors in early plantings can protect later plantings
- 4. The corn borer movement studies with Drs. Hunt and Buschman in Kansas is evaluating the field performance of Bt-corn and is investigating resistance management strategies for corn borers in Bt-corn. Dr. Buschman is currently studying corn borer dispersal and its role in IRM for Bt corn. Several projects are designed to evaluate the potential development of resistance to Bt corn and to develop methods of preventing the resistance development in this important agricultural pest species.
- 5. The Japanese beetle project (Rufus Isaacs, Michigan State University) is quantifying the dispersal range of this pest insect, using marked insects and various recapture devices. The information gained from this work will allow scientists to plan the scope of grub control applications required to reduce the pests population. The long-term aim is to determine economic strategies for protecting fields from the highly mobile adult insects. The whitefly project (David Byrne, University of Ariz
- 6. A risk assessment for aerial transport of P. pachyrhizi spores from South to North America conducted by NCR-148 soybean rust project team members was used by the USDA ERS in their recent report on economic and policy implications of soybean rust. The report can be accessed at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/OCS/Apr04/OCS04D02/.
- 7. Such websites are proven information resources to researchers describing historical patterns in insect movement and using those patterns to predict future spread. For example, reports on the distribution of soybean aphid have been used by Venette (U of MN) to estimate directional, aphid spread rates, which are fastest to the northeast and northwest at 3-6 mi/d. Regional rates and patterns of spread have been shared with critical stakeholders (e.g., North Central Soybean Research Program [NC