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Construction of a Compact Low-Cost Radiation Shield for Air-Temperature Sensors in Ecological Field Studies

Low cost temperature sensors are increasingly used by ecologists to assess climatic variation and change on ecologically relevant scales. Although ...

NC State University

Aphidius colemani Viereck (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a solitary endoparasitoid used for biological control of many economically important pest aphids. Given its widespread use, a vast array of literature on this natural enemy exists. Though often highly effective for aphid suppression, the literature reveals that A. colemani efficacy within greenhouse production systems can be reduced by many stressors, both biotic (plants, aphid hosts, other natural enemies) and abiotic (climate and lighting). For example, effects from 3rd and 4th trophic levels (fungal-based control products, hyperparasitoids) can suddenly decimate A. colemani populations. But, the most chronic negative effects (reduced parasitoid foraging efficiency, fitness) seem to be from stressors at the first trophic level. Negative effects from the 1st trophic level are difficult to mediate since growers are usually constrained to particular plant varieties due to market demands. Major research gaps identified by our review include determining how plants, aphid hosts, and A. colemani interact to affect the net aphid population, and how production conditions such as temperature, humidity and lighting affect both the population growth rate of A. colemani and its target pest. Decades of research have made A. colemani an essential part of biological control programs in greenhouse crops. Future gains in A. colemani efficacy and aphid biological control will require an interdisciplinary, systems approach that considers plant production and climate effects at all trophic levels. 

Sara G. Prado

Department of Applied Ecology

NC State University

Construction of a Compact Low-Cost Radiation Shield for Air-Temperature Sensors in Ecological Field Studies

Sara G. Prado

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Applied Ecology

NC State University

Construction of a Compact Low-Cost Radiation Shield for Air-Temperature Sensors in Ecological Field Studies

Department of Applied Ecology