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10: Pests and Integrated Pest Management

  • Page ID
    47137
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    Introduction

    Agroecosystems have many beneficial species that play important roles in processes such as nutrient cycling, pollination, and pest suppression; but some species, typically called pests, reduce crop or livestock yields and/or quality. This module introduces three types of agricultural pests (insects, weeds, and pathogens) and some of the scientific research, technologies, and management approaches developed to reduce agricultural pest damage.

    Goals

    • Learn some benefits of insects, some characteristics of insect and weed pests, some challenges associated with insect and weed pest control, and how trophic interactions can contribute to insect pest control
    • Learn what IPM is and how to apply the economic threshold concept to interpret if a pest population has reached an economic threshold
    • Learn some transgenic pest management technologies and their impact
    • Understand how few pest control tactics can select for pest resistance while integrated pest and weed management can contribute to long-term successful weed and pest management

    Learning Objectives

    After completing this module, students will be able to:

    • Describe characteristics of insect pests and factors that make them successful pests, as well as beneficial characteristics of insects.
    • Explain some history of agricultural pesticides.
    • Describe factors that contribute to pests evolving resistance to pest control strategies.
    • Discuss what IPM is and why it is effective.
    • Interpret how to apply pest scouting data and distinguish if pests have reached an economic threshold.
    • Analyze pest management scenarios and describe the agroecosystem benefits of IPM.
    • Describe and compare the characteristics of natural ecosystems and agroecosystems, and explain how trophic level interactions and biodiversity may contribute to pest control.
    • Describe characteristics of weed pests and factors that make them successful pests.
    • Describe categories of weed management tactics with example weed control practices.
    • Explain what organisms and factors contribute to crop diseases.
    • Explain some recent transgenic pest management technologies and analyze and interpret scientific data about transgenic technologies.
    • Differentiate pest control approaches that are likely to be effective in the long term based on IPM principles, and generate or formulate IPM approaches to enhance pest control.

    Assignments

    PrintPrint

    Module 8 Assignments Roadmap

    Detailed instructions for completing the Summative Assessment will be provided in each module.

    Module 8 Roadmap
    Action Assignment Location
    To Read
    1. Materials on the course website.
    2. Pesticide Development: A Brief Look at the History. Taylor, R. L., A. G. Holley and M. Kirk. March 2007. Southern Regional Extension Forestry. A Regional Peer Reviewed Publication SREF-FM-010 (Also published as Texas A & M Publication 805-124).
    3. “Use and Impact of Bt Maize” by: Richard L. Hellmich (USDA–ARS, Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research Unit, and Dept of Entomology, Iowa State Univ, IA) & Kristina Allyse Hellmich (Dept. of Biology, Grinnell College, IA). 2012 Nature Education
    4. The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Concept. D. G. Alston. July 2011. IPM 014-11. Utah State University Extension and Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Laboratory
    5. IPM Pest Management Decision-Making: The Economic-Injury Level Concept. D. G. Alston. July 2011. IPM 016-11. Utah State University Extension and Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Laboratory:
    6. Plant Disease: Pathogens and Cycles. Timmerman, A., Nygren, A., VanDeWalle, B., Giesler, L., Seymour, R., Glewen, K., Shapiro, C., Jhala, A., Treptow, D. 2019. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Extension.
    1. You are on the course website now.
    2. Online: Pesticide Development: A Brief Look at the History
    3. Online: Use and Impact of Bt Maize
    4. Online: The Integrated Pest Management
    5. Online: IPM Pest Management Decision-Making: The Economic-Injury Level Concept
    6. Online: Plant Disease: Pathogens and Cycles.
    To Do
    1. Formative Assessment Part 1: Australian Grain Crop IPM and Part 2: Determining the Economic Threshold of Potato Leafhoppers in Alfalfa
    2. Summative Assessment: Herbicide Resistant Weed Interpretation
    3. Take Module Quiz
    1. In course content: Formative Assessment; complete worksheet then take quiz in Canvas
    2. In course content: Summative Assessment, then post discussion in Canvas
    3. In Canvas

    Questions?

    If you prefer to use email:

    If you have any questions, please send them through Canvas e-mail. We will check daily to respond. If your question is one that is relevant to the entire class, we may respond to the entire class rather than individually.

    If you prefer to use the discussion forums:

    If you have any questions, please post them to the discussion forum in Canvas. We will check that discussion forum daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.


    This page titled 10: Pests and Integrated Pest Management is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Heather Karsten & Steven Vanek (John A. Dutton: e-Education Institute) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.