infestation in Biological News

New Southern California beetle killing oaks

... are concerned about further spread of the infestation because oaks are the dominant tree species in the ... distribution in the state, reaching from the infestation area north to the Oregon border. "We don't ... and California black oak trees. They estimate the infestation has impacted 17,000 trees on the national ...

Canada provides $1.4M for removal of hazardous trees from provincial recreation sites

... and dying trees left by the mountain pine beetle infestation is having a serious impact on public safety, said ... of British Columbia are in various stages of infestation by the beetle, creating a significant issue for ... to support a comprehensive response to the infestation and its consequences, including protecting forest ...

Mountain pine beetle: Canada's new government delivers

... issues resulting from the unprecedented beetle infestation in British Columbia. British Columbians know ... on federal forestlands in areas hit by the infestation will also receive financial assistance to support ... to support a comprehensive response to the infestation and its consequences, including protecting forest ...

Sudden Oak Death pathogen is evolving, says new study that reconstructs the epidemic

... sites were chosen to represent the geographic range of Sudden Oak Death infestation and included newly infected areas as well as regions that had relatively ... to the study. "Interestingly, areas where the Sudden Oak Death infestation are particularly severe are not necessarily the first ones to have become ...

Plant reflections may be key to early detection of treatment needs

... mite infestation, you have to take a lot of samples to see mites when the infestation level is low, he said. But with spectral imaging, you can see it earlier ... plant, a lot of inputs and resources are needed. If we can detect an infestation early, our technology may help producers decide whether it is worthwhile ...

Herbicide diversity needed to keep Roundup effective

... can intensify the problem, Johnson said. "Glyphosate-resistant marestail develops very quickly in a field. Populations reach staggering levels of infestation in about two years after it is first detected," Johnson said. "For us, marestail being the first weed that developed resistance showed that a ...

Study finds hemlock trees dying rapidly, affecting forest carbon cycle

... were surprised to find that hemlock declines just as quickly from adelgid infestation," said Ford. "This research shows that hemlock woolly adelgid infestation is rapidly impacting the carbon cycle in these tree stands. The study also supports the widely held belief that adelgid-infested hemlock trees in the ...

What is wild? Odor attraction among different wildtype Drosophila

... agriculture. With the help of these traps, insect pests can be controlled, e.g. in vineyards and orchards. The traps are also used to monitor pest infestation levels in crop fields. The results of this study increases our understanding of insect odor-directed behavior, and will help to improve such insect ...

UC Riverside botanist to study role of plants in southern California's drought

... Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought in June 2008. Southern California's drought has weakened trees and exacerbated a bark-beetle infestation in the San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and Palomar Mountains. The trees threaten life and property from windstorms, wildfires and subsequent erosion. ...

Shipwrecks on coral reefs harbor unwanted species

... R. howesii around several buoys. Whether this phenomenon occurs on other coral atolls is unknown; however, in the case of Palmyra, the R. howesii infestation is beginning to reach catastrophic proportions, according to Dr. Thierry Work, the lead author of the study and a scientist at the USGS National ...

Complex dynamics underlie bark beetle eruptions

... single tree species and climate change are just two of the critical factors making forests throughout western North America more susceptible to infestation by bark beetles, according to an article published in the June 2008 BioScience. Bark beetle epidemics have become more extensive and frequent in ...

Oregano oil works as well as synthetic insecticides to tackle common beetle pest

... Society of Chemical Industrys Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows that oregano oil works as well as synthetic insecticides to combat infestation by a common beetle, Rhizoppertha dominica, found in stored cereals. Not only does oregano oil work as well as synthetic versions but it has none ...

Gypsy moth management made more efficient, cost-effective

... in those states where the moths are actively spreading to select a management strategy based on the number of medium-density and high-density infestation patches within their jurisdictions. The model ignores smaller patches because they often go extinct by themselves and, if they escape extinction as ...

Soybean varieties viable in southern Indiana, resistant to root-knot nematode

... damage crops. Damage by plant-parasitic nematodes usually appears in patches in fields because where nematodes are introduced determines the infestation area. The type of soil and environmental conditions also play a role in the parasite's survival. Both the soybean cyst and root-knot nematode ...

UBC discovery unlocks tree genetics, gives new hope for pine beetle defense

... is also co-leader of the recently announced $4-million project that Genome BC and Genome Alberta is funding to investigate the mountain pine beetle infestation at the genomic level. Insect pests and pathogens cause annual losses of billions of dollars to conifer-based forest economies in North America ...

UCR researchers awarded nearly $1.7M to develop improved cowpea varieties

... of the greatest challenges of our time, is a critical goal especially in the developing world, where crop destruction by drought, disease and pest infestation swiftly places millions of lives at risk of hunger. Scientists at the University of California, Riverside will help meet this challenge by ...

Auto immune response creates barrier to fertility; could be a step in speciation

... a pathogen. This finding presents a new theory in the development of new species: two plants of the same species fail to reproduce not because of infestation or infection from an outside organism, nor from problems with reproductive organs. If two otherwise healthy members of a species cannot produce ...

Scientists find genes involved in the battle between Hessian flies and wheat

... the Revolutionary War. The flies are found worldwide, but the U.S. infestation has been mainly in the Southeast. In Georgia during the 1980s, wheat crop ... a resurgence occurred in Oklahoma in 2006. Most recently, a Hessian fly infestation was identified near Lafayette, Ind., where the insect hadn't been reported ...

Edge density key to controlling gypsy moth spread

... release of the gypsy moth in 1869 in Massachusetts has led to an infestation covering more than 386,000 square miles of the U.S. Northeast. Native to ... moth adult is flightless and usually only spreads a short distance beyond infestation boundaries. External colonies occur when moths hitch a ride on vehicles or ...

Canada's new government invests $200M in the fight against the mountain pine beetle

... and forests in British Columbia. The Federal Mountain Pine Beetle Program will provide $200 million to minimize the consequences of the beetle infestation and assist in efforts to slow the infestation's eastward spread. "This outbreak is a major threat to the economy and the communities of British ...

Salmon farms kill wild fish, study shows

... sea lice from fish farms kill wild salmon. Up to 95 per cent of the wild juvenile salmon that migrate past fish farms die as a result of sea lice infestation from the farms. The results of the research have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of ...

Parasitic plants sniff out hosts

... way to get rid of these pests," says Justin B. Runyon, graduate student in entomology. "It is estimated that in California each year, a 20 percent infestation of the tomato crop reduces yield by 25 percent and causes a loss of 4 million dollars." The researchers used a variety of experiments to ...

Study shows hope for ridding lakes of clawed invader

... ecological change. "We haven't seen it yet, but we're not prepared to admit there isn't a tipping point." Vander Zanden says the rusty crayfish infestation in Sparkling Lake, like most lakes where it is found, was probably sparked by a small pioneer group that somehow got into the lake. At one time, ...

Techniques available to detect soil that inhibits destructive soybean pest

... It's often impossible to see symptoms of soybean cyst nematode damage, so soil and roots must be tested to reveal or confirm the pests' presence. infestation gradually causes progressively lower yields and the worst cases result in yellow and stunted soybean plants. Plants with severe, visible damage can ...

Researchers discover key gene involved in bark beetle pheromone production

... (PNAS). Bark beetles plague pine forests, especially when the trees are stressed. The Lake Tahoe basin lost 30 percent of its pines to bark beetle infestation during the 1986-1994 drought, according to Blomquist. There are several hundred species of bark beetles, which are in the insect family ....

Bee mites suppress bee immunity, open door for viruses and bacteria

... better protect the hive, so there may be some positive effect in this virus that allows it to persist in a colony." The combination of bee mite infestation and deformed wing virus does cause deformed wings in about a quarter of the emerging bees. This, however, does not lead to sudden hive collapse. ...

Scientists discuss improved biopesticides for locust control in West Africa

... technology is applicable to many other biopesticides and should make them more effective as well,." Agblevor said Local officials are calling the infestation in West Africa the worst in 18 years. The pests invaded the region last summer, affecting millions of acres of farmland. The locusts are in recession ...