Williams, Christopher D. and Dillon, Aoife B. and Girling, Robbie D. and Griffin, Christine
(2013)
Organic soils promote the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes, with
different foraging strategies, in the control of a major forest pest: A meta-analysis
of field trial data.
Biological Control, 65.
pp. 357-364.
ISSN 1049-9644
Abstract
The large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis, is a serious pest of reforestation in northern Europe. However,
weevils developing in stumps of felled trees can be killed by entomopathogenic nematodes applied to soil
around the stumps and this method of control has been used at an operational level in the UK and Ireland.
We investigated the factors affecting the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes in the control of the
large pine weevil spanning 10 years of field experiments, by means of a meta-analysis of published studies
and previously unpublished data. We investigated two species with different foraging strategies, the
‘ambusher’ Steinernema carpocapsae, the species most often used at an operational level, and the ‘cruiser’
Heterorhabditis downesi. Efficacy was measured both by percentage reduction in numbers of adults
emerging relative to untreated controls and by percentage parasitism of developing weevils in the stump.
Both measures were significantly higher with H. downesi compared to S. carpocapsae. General linear models
were constructed for each nematode species separately, using substrate type (peat versus mineral
soil) and tree species (pine versus spruce) as fixed factors, weevil abundance (from the mean of untreated
stumps) as a covariate and percentage reduction or percentage parasitism as the response variable. For
both nematode species, the most significant and parsimonious models showed that substrate type was
consistently, but not always, the most significant variable, whether replicates were at a site or stump
level, and that peaty soils significantly promote the efficacy of both species. Efficacy, in terms of percentage
parasitism, was not density dependent.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Additional Information: |
The definitive published version of this article is available at DOI: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2013.03.013 |
| Keywords: |
Forest pest management; Pine weevil; Entomopathogenic nematodes; Inundative biological control; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering > Biology |
| Item ID: |
6826 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2013.03.013 |
| Depositing User: |
Dr. Christine Griffin
|
| Date Deposited: |
18 Jan 2016 15:12 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Biological Control |
| Publisher: |
Elsevier |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Funders: |
European Regional Development Fund (INTERREG IVA), Welsh European Funding Office (IMPACT project), National Council for Forest Research and Development (COFORD) |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
Repository Staff Only(login required)
 |
Item control page |
Downloads per month over past year
Origin of downloads
Altmetric
Altmetric