Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2006) 118, 203-210

Yves Carrière, Peter C. Ellsworth, Pierre Dutilleul, Christa Ellers-Kirk, Virginia Barkley and Larry Antilla (2006)
A GIS-based approach for areawide pest management: the scales of Lygus hesperus movements to cotton from alfalfa, weeds, and cotton
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 118 (3), 203-210
Abstract: Understanding the effect of cropping patterns on population dynamics, dispersal, and habitat selection of insect pests has been an unresolved challenge. Here, we studied the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus (Knight) (Heteroptera: Miridae), in cotton during early summer in central Arizona. We used a general approach based on global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies combined with spatial statistics to assess the maximum distance at which forage and seed alfalfa, fallow fields with weeds, and cotton affect L. hesperus population density. Using a set of 50 cotton fields as focal fields, we found that forage and seed alfalfa as well as weeds acted as L. hesperus sources for these cotton fields. The source effect did not extend beyond 375, 500, and 1500 m for forage alfalfa, weeds, and seed alfalfa, respectively. Conversely, cotton fields acted as L. hesperus sinks, but this effect did not extend further than 750 m from the focal cotton fields. These findings suggest that specific spatial arrangements of these field types could reduce L. hesperus damage to cotton. The spatially explicit approach used here provides a direct evaluation of the effects of agroecosystem heterogeneity on pest population dynamics, dispersal, and habitat selection, which is a significant asset for the development and improvement of areawide pest management.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Yves Carriere, Peter C. Ellsworth

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology
environment - cropping system/rotation

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Lygus hesperus	Cotton (Gossypium)	U.S.A. (SW)