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Spatio-Temporal Distributions of Pests and Their Parasitoids on the Oilseed Rape Crop

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Book cover Biocontrol-Based Integrated Management of Oilseed Rape Pests

Abstract

Good co-incidence in time and space between parasitoids and the pests they attack is essential for effective biocontrol. The six major pests of oilseed rape in Europe migrate to the crop in succession, attacking the crop at various growth stages and damaging different parts of the plant. Research on the phenologies and within-field spatial distributions of the pests and their key parasitoids on oilseed rape crops is reviewed. Pest distributions are non-uniform, with differing irregular patterns of aggregation, often edge-distributed. Parasitoid distributions do not necessarily completely reflect those of the host stage they attack. Crop and environmental factors affecting these distributions are discussed. The spatio-temporal distributions have implications for biocontrol-based integrated management of the pests. These include accurate sampling for pest monitoring, the temporal and spatial targeting of pests with insecticide to avoid killing parasitoids and strategies for manipulating pest and parasitoid distributions through the siting, layout and surround of the crop to enhance parasitoid populations and increase their effectiveness.

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Acknowledgements

This review was supported by Estonian Targeting Financing Project SF0172655s04 and the UK Department for Food and Rural Affairs. Rothamsted Research is an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, 51014, Estonia

    Ingrid H. Williams

  2. Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK

    Andrew W. Ferguson

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  1. Ingrid H. Williams
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Correspondence to Ingrid H. Williams .

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    Ingrid H. Williams

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Williams, I.H., Ferguson, A.W. (2010). Spatio-Temporal Distributions of Pests and Their Parasitoids on the Oilseed Rape Crop. In: Williams, I. (eds) Biocontrol-Based Integrated Management of Oilseed Rape Pests. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3983-5_8

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