In a recent study, Charlotte Howard and her colleagues report that floral strips can be a practical and effective way to encourage natural pest control in commercial apple orchards. Floral margins can deliver a measurable increase in yield of undamaged fruit. We found that by using flower margins in conventional orchards, farmers were able to significantly reduce damage by a problematic global pest: the rosy … Continue reading Powerful flowers
In their latest research Emma J. Hudgins, Frank H. Koch, Mark J. Ambrose, and Brian Leung, discuss the economic implications of pest-induced tree deaths in the US. Urban trees are key to the wellbeing of city dwellers but are at high risk of mortality from insect pests, due to having high rates of exposure to invasive species as enabled by trade, travel, and other human … Continue reading Hotspots of pest-induced US urban tree death: culprits, impacted tree species, and spatial hotspots
New research by Lauren Brzozowski and colleagues develops our understanding of how plant preference gradients mediate herbivore behaviour, and how this can ultimately help us manage crop damage from insect pests. Associate Editor, Ian Kaplan collaborates with Christie Shee to introduce our new Journal of Applied Ecology Editor’s Choice article, Attack and aggregation of a major squash pest: Parsing the role of plant chemistry and … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 57:08 – The mechanisms underlying crop colonisation, aggregation and damage in an insect pest
Senior Editor, Romina Rader, recently spoke to Ségolène Humann‐Guilleminot, winner of our Southwood Prize early career researcher award, to find out more about her work on neonicotinoid insecticides in agricultural land.
Ségolène’s research has also been beautifully illustrated (above) by Rob Lang at Underdone Comics. Continue reading Why neonicotinoids? Interview with Southwood Prize winner, Ségolène Humann‐Guilleminot
Associate Editor Juan Corley explores the challenge of creating environmentally friendly pest management solutions. Does the recent work of Zhou et al. on self-limiting transgenic insects point us in the right direction? Food production is strongly dependent on successful pest management. Since the 1970s, and partly as a consequence of increasing problems with the mass use of pesticides, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has become the … Continue reading Is it possible to manage pests and pesticide resistance in heterogeneous landscapes?
Issue 54:5’s Editor’s Choice is written by Sarah Diamond. The article chosen is Planting of neonicotinoid-treated maize poses risks for honey bees and other non-target organisms over a wide area without consistent crop yield benefit by C. Krupke et al. As humans modify natural environments, we are witnessing the steady accumulation of unintended, cascading effects across biological communities. Biocontrol agents have escaped their intended targets … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 54:5 – Quantifying the collateral damage of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees
The Applied Ecologist 