Increased options for controlling mikania vine (Mikania micrantha) with foliar herbicides

Mikania micrantha Kunth (mikania vine) is a highly invasive tropical weed that was first discovered in Australia in 1997, and has been the target of a nationally cost-shared weed eradication program since 2003. Field crews have been effectively treating the weed with herbicide solutions containing 1 g a.i. L−1 of fluroxypyr. During the eradication program there have been limited opportunities to test alternative foliar herbicides or rates. A newly discovered infestation provided sufficient immature vines to compare the effectiveness of eight herbicide treatments

Increased options for controlling mikania vine (Mikania micrantha) with foliar herbicides

Mikania micrantha Kunth (mikania vine) is a highly invasive tropical weed that was first discovered in Australia in 1997, and has been the target of a nationally cost-shared weed eradication program since 2003. Field crews have been effectively treating the weed with herbicide solutions containing 1 g a.i. L−1 of fluroxypyr. During the eradication program there have been limited opportunities to test alternative foliar herbicides or rates. A newly discovered infestation provided sufficient immature vines to compare the effectiveness of eight herbicide treatments

A CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF VOLE DAMAGE AND NUMBERS AND OF METHODS USED TO CONTROL VOLES IN ONTARIO APPLE ORCHARDS

A province-wide evaluation of the amount, distribution, source and control of damage to Ontario apple trees was initiated. Data we re obtained from 280 responses to a questionnaire distributed to growers across Ontario, and from trap censuses in three widely separated areas. Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) damaged or destroyed 8,423 trees in our questionnaire sample and other mammals damaged another 10,307 trees. No relationship was found between application of rodenticide and levels of damage, but rodenticide-treated baits sharply reduced numbers of voles on our trap plots. Orchards with high levels of damage were on average only one-third as large as the average orchard in our total sample. All damage by voles appeared to be caused by meadow voles and no pine voles (M. pinetorum) were found. Numbers of voles varied greatly among our three study areas. Future work will concentrate on factors causing high levels of damage and on the relationship between dispersal of voles and the effects of rodenticide treatment

Control of Damage by Mammals in Ontario Orchards

Each year, mammalian wildlife causes extensive and costly damage to fruit tree growers throughout Ontario. In 1981, in response to the concern among fruit growers over high levels of this damage, the Ontario Apple Marketing Commission and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food requested that we initiate a long-term study of this problem. However, the desire to improve available control practices was impeded by a general lack of know ledge of the scope of mammalian pest problems in Ontario. For example, the extent and degree of damage in relation to seasonal and regional differences, pest population levels and management practices was unknown. Accordingly, our research program has four basic objectives: first, to assess level of tree injury caused by mammalian pests and to deter-mine the costs of this damage and of methods currently used to control the pest species; second, to identify the species causing damage; third, to identify biological indicators that could be used by growers to predict periods of potential high damage; fourth, to develop and recommend a cost-effective, long-range program to monitor and control pest species

Asymptotic optimality of the least-squares cross-validation bandwidth for kernel estimates of intensity functions

In this paper, kernel function methods are considered for estimating the intensity function of a non-homogeneous Poisson process. A least-squares cross-validation bandwidth for the kernel intensity estimator is introduced, and it is proven that this bandwidth is asymptotically optimal for kernel intensity estimation

A CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF VOLE DAMAGE AND NUMBERS AND OF METHODS USED TO CONTROL VOLES IN ONTARIO APPLE ORCHARDS

A province-wide evaluation of the amount, distribution, source and control of damage to Ontario apple trees was initiated. Data we re obtained from 280 responses to a questionnaire distributed to growers across Ontario, and from trap censuses in three widely separated areas. Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) damaged or destroyed 8,423 trees in our questionnaire sample and other mammals damaged another 10,307 trees. No relationship was found between application of rodenticide and levels of damage, but rodenticide-treated baits sharply reduced numbers of voles on our trap plots. Orchards with high levels of damage were on average only one-third as large as the average orchard in our total sample. All damage by voles appeared to be caused by meadow voles and no pine voles (M. pinetorum) were found. Numbers of voles varied greatly among our three study areas. Future work will concentrate on factors causing high levels of damage and on the relationship between dispersal of voles and the effects of rodenticide treatment

Current state of the taxonomic knowledge of the Chironomidae fauna (Diptera: Nematocera) from Patagonia

La familia Chironomidae (Diptera: Nematocera) es uno de los grupos de insectos más ampliamente distribuidos y abundantes en cuerpos de agua dulce. Los representantes de esta familia pueden explotar áreas con amplios gradientes ambientales. La información que se presenta está basada en la recopilación de datos distribucionales bibliográficos, del estudio del material tipo de las especies de Chironomidae depositadas en el Natural History Museum (UK) y del material de colección del Museo de La Plata (Argentina). En la Patagonia, se registran 9 subfamilias, la subfamilia monotípica Chilenomyiinae es endémica de esta área. Dentro de estas subfamilias, 53 de los 111 géneros conocidos para América del Sur están presentes en la Patagonia. Del total de géneros de la Patagonia, el 20 % es endémico y 7 de ellos muestran relaciones transantárticas. En la Patagonia, se registran 177 especies de Chironomidae, el 98% de éstas son endémicas, el 3 % son consideradas nomina dubia y el 17% requiere revisión ya que su ubicación sistemática es dudosa. Las descripciones originales de las especies patagónicas de Chironomidae están basadas principalmente sobre machos (n=58) y machos y hembras (n=43), ambas representan el 57% del total; el resto de las especies han sido descriptas con diferentes combinaciones de estadios del ciclo de desarrollo.The Chironomidae (Diptera: Nematocera) family is one of the most widely distributed group of insects and often the most abundant in freshwater environments. Representatives of this family can exploit a wide range of environmental gradients. The information here presented is based on the compilation of distributional data obtained from bibliography, the study of the type material deposited in the Natural History Museum (UK) and the collection material from Museo de La Plata (Argentina). Nine subfamilies are recorded from Patagonia, being the monotypic subfamily Chilenomyiinae endemic for the area. From the 111 known genera from South America, 53 are present in the studied area. Aproximately 20 % of the genera recorded from Patagonia are endemic and 7 of them have transantarctic relationships. In Patagonia there are 177 species of Chironomidae, out of which 98% are endemic, 3 % are considered nomina dubia and ca. 17 % requires revision since their systematic position is doubtful. The original descriptions of the chironomid species from Patagonia are based mainly on males (n=58) and males and females (n=43) both amounting to 57 % of the total, the rest of the species have been described using different combinations of stages from their life cycle.Fil: Donato, Mariano Humberto. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiva; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Massaferro, Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Brooks, Stephen J.. Natural History Museum; Reino Unid

Chironomid Research in Northern Patagonia

Patagonia is the southernmost territory of South America and was traditionally considered as belonging to the Neotropical region (Sclater 1858, Wallace 1876). Based on these zoogeographic schemes, the Argentinean biogeographer Raul Ringuelet (1961) divided Patagonia into the Araucanian Subregion, characterized by dominance of Austral or Notogeic fauna, and the Andean-Patagonian Subregion, having a dominant mixture of Notogeic, Brasilic, and Nearctic elements. Later, Cabrera & Willink (1973) proposed a biogeographic scheme for South America and the Caribbean in which the Andean-Patagonian region was part of the Neotropical region and Araucania. They named the region the SubAntarctic province, which was part of the Antarctic region and was based on the floristic and faunistic affinities of southwestern Patagonia with Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand. Further biogeographic schemes considered Patagonia as a part of a Holantarctic region (Takhtajan 1986) or Sub-Antarctic subregion and Patagonian subregion of the Andean Region (Morrone 2001). The extraordinary amount of different biogeographic schemes reflects the complexity of the affinities of the biota of Patagonia.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica

Lista de los quironómidos (Chironomidae: Diptera) del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, Patagonia, Argentina

Este trabajo presenta el primer catálogo de taxones modernos y subfósiles de la familia Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi en Patagonia, Argentina. La fauna catalogada contiene 104 especies en 48 géneros y 6 subfamilias para la fauna moderna y 52 morfotipos en 36 géneros y 4 subfamilias para la fauna subfósil.This paper presents the first inventory of modern and subfossil taxa of the Family Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) from Nahuel Huapi National Park in Patagonia, Argentina. The catalogued fauna contains 104 species in 48 genera and 6 sub-families for modern fauna and 52 morphotypes in 36 genera and 4 subfamilies for sub-fossil fauna.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Lista de los quironómidos (Chironomidae: Diptera) del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, Patagonia, Argentina

Este trabajo presenta el primer catálogo de taxones modernos y subfósiles de la familia Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi en Patagonia, Argentina. La fauna catalogada contiene 104 especies en 48 géneros y 6 subfamilias para la fauna moderna y 52 morfotipos en 36 géneros y 4 subfamilias para la fauna subfósil.This paper presents the first inventory of modern and subfossil taxa of the Family Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) from Nahuel Huapi National Park in Patagonia, Argentina. The catalogued fauna contains 104 species in 48 genera and 6 sub-families for modern fauna and 52 morphotypes in 36 genera and 4 subfamilies for sub-fossil fauna.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse