Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs Target Audience:Academic researchers (Jabbour), weed managers (Collier) and federal research scientists (Collier). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Jabbour gave two invited departmental seminars to academic researchers at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. An update on Russian olive biological control was presented by Collier to state weed managers in Fall 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Jabbour and team will continue to research the best methodology for rearing parasitoids and hyperparasitoids out of B. curculionis cocoons.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
Randa Jabbour and team at the University of Wyoming focused efforts on understanding factors that limit effective biological control of the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica. The most common parasitoid of alfalfa weevil in Wyoming is the wasp Bathyplectes curculionis, which parasitizes the weevil at levels as high as 50%. However, alfalfa weevil remains quite problematic, so in 2019, we shifted our focus to evaluate which hyperparasitoids are infecting this wasp, to learn if hyperparasitism is disruptive to biological control in this system. Thus far, we have found 4 different species of hyperparasitoids, and we are still working on identifying these species. We continued this fieldwork in 2020, with a new study focused on establishing the best methodology for rearing parasitoids and hyperparasitoids out of B. curculionis cocoons. The latter is still in progress and results will be summarized in next year's report. Collier, along with collaborators in Canada (R. DeClerke-Floate, AGRI Canada) and Switzerland (P. Weyl, CABI) have been working towards importing a new biological control agent for Russian olive, an invasive tree that is problematic in the western U.S. In 2019, Collier and collaborators prepared and submitted a document to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture that reviewed existing information on the biology and ecology of Russian olive and the mite, and presented research conducted in Switzerland that examined the risk the mite may pose to native species. Federal government reviewers of the document recommended that the mite be approved for importation, but had a number of questions and comments that needed to be addressed for the approval process to proceed. Over the Summer/Fall 2020, Collier and collaborators developed a response to the USDA's review. This information will likely inform and guide final approval of importation of the mite for biological control of Russian olive.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Jabbour, R. and Noy, S. 2020. The promise of a multi-disciplinary, mixed-methods approach to inform insect pest management: Evidence from Wyoming alfalfa. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 4: 246. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.548545.
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs Target Audience:Fellow researchers were the target audience of a presentation by Jabbour. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Outputs include invited presentation at Entomological Society of America 2019 meeting: Jabbour, R. 2019. Integrating harvest timing and biological control to manage alfalfa weevil. In symposium "Finding Common Ground: Non-chemical Pest-Management to Protect Organic and Conventional Crops". Entomological Society of America 2019 Annual Meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
Randa Jabbour and team at the University of Wyoming focused efforts on understanding factors that limit biological control of alfalfa weevil Hypera postica. The most common parasitoid of alfalfa weevil in Wyoming is the wasp Bathyplectes curculionis, at levels as high as 50% of alfalfa weevils assays. However, alfalfa weevil remains quite problematic, so in 2019, we shifted our focus to evaluate which hyperparasitoids are infecting this wasp, to learn if this is disruptive to biological control in this system. Thus far, we have found 4 different species of hyperparasitoids, and we are still working on identifying these species.
Publications
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Progress 04/28/18 to 09/30/18
Outputs Target Audience:The target audience consists of scientists working in biological control, farmers and weed managers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of Collier's research on Dalmatian toadflax was presented to weed managers and weed scientists at a talk at the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council Fall Conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
Jabbour: We analyzed data from our experiment at the University of Wyoming Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Center in Lingle, Wyoming to test whether the diversity and presence of cover crops interseeded into standing corn impacts the activity-density and diversity of ground beetles (Carabidae). Producers are interested in this practice to increase forage available for grazing cattle, but we have limited research available to predict how it will impact other parts of the ecosystem. We found that carabid activity-density did not change in response to the presence of cover crops or the type of cover crop planted, which may have partially been due to vegetative cover provided by weeds in the field. We plan to identify carabids to morphospecies to determine if carabid community composition and diversity varied according to cover crop treatment. We continue to collaborate on projects to determine parasitoid activity against alfalfa weevil. We have in-progress work centered on determining the factors that affect rates of parasitism by Bathyplectes curculionis. Collier: This research project investigates the impact of a weevil imported from Eurasia as a biological control agent of Dalmatian toadflax, an important rangeland weed. The project uses a manipulative experimental design in which weevils are hand removed in some plots, and left intact in others. This approach is rather novel, and does not have the potential downsides of insecticidal removal or mesh exclusion cages or purely observational data. The research site near Cody, Wyoming has had a well-established weevil population for at least a decade, which I hypothesize is providing some level of control of Dalmatian toadflax. Therefore, the number and height of Dalmatian toadflax stems should increase in the weevil-removal plots relative to those in the weevils-present plots. Removals began in May 2018, and the first data on Dalmatian toadflax was collected in September. So far, weevil removal has not resulted in an increase in stem number or height. This result is not surprising since biological control impacts are generally expected to take several years.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Rand, T., Pellissier, M.E.*, Jabbour, R., Lundgren, J.G., and Waters, D.K. 2018. Evaluating the establishment success of Microctonus aethiopoides (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a parasitoid of the alfalfa weevil (Coleoptera:Curculionidae), across the northern Great Plains. The Canadian Entomologist 150: 274-277.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Pellissier, M.E.* and Jabbour, R. 2018. Herbivore and parasitoid insects respond differently to annual and perennial floral strips in an alfalfa ecosystem. Biological Control 123: 28-35.
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