Integrated Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management Chapter 5 Lesson 5.1

Theme Outline Lesson 5.1 • Pest Around the World • Forest Pests • Exotic Pests

PA Academic Standards for Environment & Ecology Standard 4.5.10.A • Identify similar classifications of pests that may or may not have similar effects on different regions. • Identify environmental effect(s) of pests on different regions of the world. • Identify introduced species that are classified as pests in their new environments.

Learning Objectives • Students will identify environmental effect(s) of pests on different regions of the world. • Students will identify introduced species that are classified as pests in their new environments.

Pest • Definition: any organism that spreads disease, destroys property, competes with people for resources such as food, or is just a nuisance. • In natural ecosystems… • …pests have natural enemies such as predators, parasites, and disease organisms to control their populations. • … natural enemies control 50-90% of the pest population. • How have ecosystems been disturbed?

Common Disturbances • Creating monocultures - Replacing a heterogeneous ecosystems with a single species. • Draining wetlands to construct housing developments. • Converting farmland from agriculture for another purpose.

Pest Control Since 1940s, pest control meant… • Synthetic chemical pesticides • Types • Insecticides (insect control) • Herbicide (weed control) • Nematicides (roundworm control) • Fungicides (fungus control) • Rodenticides (mouse and rat control)

Dangers Why be careful? • Pesticides contain chemicals that can be harmful to human health and the environment. Why not stopping using them? • Impractical to farmers.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) • Exploring some fundamental questions • What is IPM? • Where is IPM used? • How is IMP used? • When is IMP used? • Why is IPM used? • Definition: important pest management tool that uses a mix of methods such a traps, disease-resistant plants, and natural pest-killing substances, as well as the introduction of predators to control pests

What you need to know with IPM • … understand how the pest lives • … what it likes to eat • … what it doesn’t like to eat • … its enemies • … economical yet not harmful to environment or human health

Pennsylvania IPM • Goals • encourage the production of food and forestry products while decreasing the exposure of workers to harmful pesticides. • reduce air and groundwater contamination. • reduce or eliminate pesticide residue on crops. • cut the number of insecticide-resistant pests. • make pest control most cost-effective. • maximize the use of natural organisms in pest control.

PA School IPM • Goals • encourage the use of IPM to manage pests on school grounds. • teach Pennsylvania’s students about the benefits, risks, and interdisciplinary nature of IPM.

Friend Pollinate fruit trees Critical role in honey production Imported by farmers to increase fruit plant yields Pests Around the World • A pest is any organism that is in a place where you don’t want it. However, an organism that is a pest in one situation can be beneficial in another. • Example: Honeybees Honeybees… friend or foe? • Foes • Build a hive on a house • Sting people that aggravate them

Forest Pests • Forests are complex ecosystems in which millions of interconnected organisms, both pests and beneficial, exist in balance. Pest populations are kept in check naturally. • We have destroyed these diverse, complex ecosystems and have replaced them with farms, field, pastures and secondary forests that are far less complex and far more vulnerable to invasion and attack by pests. • Examples: Eastern Tent CaterpillarFall Cankerworn Forest Tent CaterpillarsHemlock Woolly Adelgid LeafrollersTwolined Chestnut BorerScale InsectsWhite Pine Weevil Spruce Gall AdelgidsMaple Anthracnose Leaf GallsGypsy MothFall WebwormBlack Knot Of CherryElm SpanwormArmillaria Root DiseaseBeech Bark / Beech Scale Complex

Exotic Pests • Definition: insect or other organism that is not native to an area and is introduced to that area by some means • How to exotic pests get introduced? • World trade • Biological controls • Cane toads • Roadway vehicles • How did that bug hang on my windshield? • Airlines • Shipping Containers • Ballasted water Zebra Mussels

Why do exotics so often become pests? • When exotic organism enter a new country, they often become pests because their natural enemies did not travel with them. • Recall: Why are natural enemies and predators important? • Examples in PA: Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Long-horned Beetle, European Wood Wasp, Sudden Oak Death, Gypsy Moth, Dutch Elm Disease, Chestnut blight, Starlings, Hemlock Adelgid

Gypsy Moths(Lymantriadispar) • The basics. • What damage do they do? • Where did they originate? • Why were they brought here? • How did it escape?

Gypsy Moths • Arrived to North America in 1868 from Eurasia • First infestations in Boston • Continue to spread westward

Gypsy Moths • Gypsy moths eat the leaves of hundred of North American tree species Prefer oak and aspen (hardwoods) • First appeared in Pennsylvania in 1932 • First appeared in Luzerne County What has been done? • Between 2000-2001, gypsy moths contracted fungal and viral diseases (natural pest control organisms), that helped decrease the population. • In 2002, cost Pennsylvania $1 million • DCNR sprays natural insecticides (Btk) Not harmful to people but kills gypsy moth caterpillars.

Dutch elm Disease • Severe disease caused by a fungus. • Carried by native elm bark beetle and European bark beetle • First appeared in the Netherlands in 1919 • Appeared in the US in 1930 in NYC • Damage Report: 2/3 of elm trees in the country have been infested

Birds as exotic pests… • Starlings • Habitat: farms and orchards • First appeared in late 1800s • Came from Europe to North America First released in NYC • Why are starlings pests? • Compete with livestock for food • Transmit disease • Pollute livestock food and water • Eat fruits from trees and vines • Compete with native birds for nesting sites and food

Integrated Pest Management