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Veronica Hederström. Photo.

Veronica Hederström

Researcher

Veronica Hederström. Photo.

Dispersal and spatiotemporal distribution of Protapion fulvipes in white clover fields : implications for pest management

Author

  • Veronica Hederström
  • Franklin N. Nyabuga
  • Olle Anderbrant
  • Glenn P. Svensson
  • Maj Rundlöf
  • Åsa Lankinen
  • Mattias C. Larsson

Summary, in English

Yield loss caused by insect pests remains a substantial problem in agriculture. Chemical control, with potential negative effects on non-target organisms, is still the main tool for pest management. For pest species with limited dispersal capacity, rotation of the crop in time and space has potential as an alternative management measure. This is particularly important in organic farming, where most agrochemicals are prohibited, but also relevant as a complementary pest management strategy in conventional agriculture. Clover is an important crop used for animal feed and as green manure; however, seed-eating weevils can severely limit the seed yield. We hypothesized that the previous year’s clover seed fields constitute the major sources of weevil pests. Consequently, a greater distance to, and a smaller pest load from, this source should reduce the number of weevils colonizing the new seed fields. To map population dynamics and dispersal range of Protapion fulvipes, an economically important seed weevil specialized on white clover, we conducted field studies over four years in 45 white clover seed fields. We found that P. fulvipes overwinters close to its source field and disperses to new fields in early spring the following year. Pest abundance increased with pest load in the previous year’s seed field, but decreased by 68% per km distance to the previous year’s field. Thus, separation of seed production fields between years by 2–3 km would create a spatiotemporal pest management tool to reduce the pest infestation below the estimated economic injury level.

Department/s

  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)
  • Department of Biology

Publishing year

2022

Language

English

Pages

917-930

Publication/Series

Journal of Pest Science

Volume

95

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Agricultural Science

Keywords

  • Agricultural pest
  • Clover seed production
  • Dispersal distance
  • Trifolium repens
  • White clover seed weevil

Status

Published

Project

  • Biological control of insect pests in clover seed crops

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1612-4758