Economic and ecological perspectives of farmers on rice insect pest management

Understanding farmers’ perception is important in the development of sustainable and cost-effective integrated pest management strategies. Hence, farmers’ perception on rice insect pests and pesticide use was evaluated by selected 112 farmers composed of 77% males and 23% females, over the rice growing areas of North Cotabato, Central Mindanao, Philippines. 62% of farmers that were interviewed use pesticides based on the presence of pests. These farmers identified white stem borer and rice leaf folder as the most encountered insect pests on the local rice crops. Due to these insect pests, rice production became constrained producing low income for the farmers. Pesticide application was perceived to be effective (73%) but not efficient in controlling insects. Moreover, farmers recognized the negative effects of pesticide applications in the environment (76%). However, in spite of these expensive pest control strategies, local farmers still agreed (83%) to apply these methods to increase rice production and their income. With the advantage of using pesticides to boost production over the harm it can cause, farmers would not agree to stop (39%) or still are undecided (23%) to reduce pesticide application. Thus, efficient, safe, low cost pest control strategies are needed to reduce reliance of farmers to pesticides and to improve agricultural production and food security of smallholder farmers in the Philippines

Data on the occurrence of corticolous myxomycetes from Denali National Park, Alaska

This data set contains data about corticolous (bark-inhabiting) myxomycetes from a 100×100 m2 plot including ca. 380 trees of Picea glauca (white spruce), of which 260 were large enough that bark could been sampled to prepare moist chamber cultures. At the end of the data set records of myxomycetes from 66 moist chambers prepared with bark of deciduous trees and shrubs, and outermost twiglets of P. glauca are included. These were sampled around the plot for purposes of comparison. A second data set shows measured tree parameters for the 380 trees examined in the plot. Data were used for a statistical analysis to search for environmental factors decisive for the occurrence of corticolous myxomycetes (Schnittler et al., 2016) [1]. Keywords: Amoebozoa, Myxomycete

Myxomycetes associated with mountain tropical forests of bidoup nui ba and chu yang sin national parks (Dalat plateau, southern Vietnam)

A systematic survey for myxomycetes was carried out in 2011–2014 and 2017 at 106 localities in mountain tropical forests of Bidoup Nui Ba and Chu Yang Sin national parks (Dalat Plateau, southern Vietnam). In total, the survey yielded 652 records, of which 358 were field collections and 294 were collections obtained from 819 moist chamber cultures prepared with samples taken from the bark surface of living trees, ground and aerial litter and coarse woody debris. Determinations resulted in 105 taxa from 28 genera and 10 families. More than half (61) of all taxa were classified as rare. One collection of Badhamia could not be clearly assigned to any described species. Forty-two taxa were recorded for the first time for Vietnam and all were new for both national parks. The number of recorded taxa, increasing in a near-linear fashion with the number of field seasons, since sporulation activity of different species varies from year to year. Among the four natural vegetation types: middle mountain polydominant (A), mixed broadleaf-coniferous (B), middle mountain open pyrogenic coniferous (C), and high mountain cloud forest (D), completeness of the survey was highest for the first one. A pattern of decreasing diversity with increasing eleva-tion was found. In contrast, the specificity of myxomycete assemblages increased progressively in the sequence of vegetation types from A to D. In addition, artificial banana plantations (E) comprised the most distinctive but as well the least diverse myxomycete assemblage among all studied vegetation types. The taxonomic composition of myxomycete assemblages on major substrate groups differs from that in lowland forests, and species diversity increased from bark and aerial litter to ground litter and wood. © 2019 J. Cramer in Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany

Biogeographical assessment of myxomycete assemblages from Neotropical and Asian Palaeotropical forests

Aim Lowland/highland and Neotropical/Asian Palaeotropical assemblages of myxomycetes were compared to test the null hypothesis that neither species diversity nor species composition differs between the two ecoregions. This can be expected if myxomycetes behave as ubiquists and are capable of unlimited long distance dispersal. Location Four pairs (lowland/highland) of comprehensive regional surveys encompassing c. 7500 specimens were compared; these represented Neotropical (Yasuni/Maquipucuna in Ecuador; Guanacaste/Monteverde in Costa Rica) and Asian Palaeotropical forests (Cat Tien/Bi Dup Nui Ba in Vietnam; Chiang Mai in Thailand/South Luzon in the Philippines). Methods Each survey was carried out in an area characterized by relatively homogenous vegetation consisting of natural or near-natural forests, and incorporated both field collecting and the use of moist chamber cultures, and all observed fructifications were recorded. Analyses of diversity (i.e. richness) and community composition were carried out with EstimateS and R. Results Between 400 and 2500 records per survey were obtained. Species accumulation curves indicated moderate to nearly exhaustive completeness (70– 94% of expected species richness recorded). Multivariate analyses suggest that geographical separation (Neotropic versus Palaeotropic) explained the observed differences in composition of myxomycete assemblages better than habitat differences (lowland versus highland forests). Main Conclusion Both geographically restricted morphospecies and differences in myxomycete assemblages provide evidence that myxomycetes are not ubiquists but tend to follow the moderate endemicity hypothesis of protist biogeographyRussian-Vietnamese Tropical Scientific and Technological Centre/[01201255603]//RussiaNational Science Foundation/[DEB-9705464]/NSF/United StatesNational Science Foundation/[DEB-0102895]/NSF/United StatesNational Science Foundation/[DEB-0316284]/NSF/United StatesNational Geographic Society/[8890-11]//United StatesUS-Spain Science and Technology Fulbright Cooperation Program/[Ref.99075]//US-SpainGobierno de España/[CGL2014-52584P]//EspañaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[731-B4-072]/UCR/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[731-B5-062]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ingeniería::Instituto Investigaciones en Ingeniería (INII