Applying the Holistic Conceptual Conservation Framework for Sustainable Tourism

The tourism and hospitality industry has not always followed sound environmental stewardship. Increased awareness among tourists worldwide has prompted sustainabilit­y discourse encouraging long-term systemic approaches to planning and development. The research article proposes a holistic conceptual conservation framework that shows how a united tourism and hospitality industry can curtail the processes of environmental destruction and collectively offer authentic touristic experiences. Visitors can fully experience tourist destinations through integrated ecotourism, ethnotourism, and other related tangential offerings alongside those of larger tourism and hospitality providers. The conservation framework hypothetically strengthens the customer loyalty of tourists towards all industry operators and related practitioners, regardless of size. The holistic conceptual conservation framework endorses eco-cooperation at a regional level and beyond in a manner that goes beyond community planning and forms the foundation for future empirical studies concerning the tourism and hospitality industry’s practitioner environmental sustainability applications and overall eco-responsibility level

Spider mites are burning soybean fields

Twospotted spider mites can become serious pests of soybean whenever hot, dry weather persists. We have confirmed reports from Lee and Wapello counties in southeastern Iowa where fields have been sprayed because spider mites are burning the leaves and causing plant defoliation. The twospotted spider mite is named for the two dark spots on the sides of the abdomen, which are digested food visible through the insect\u27s translucent body. Three or four spots may be apparent and are most prominent on adult mites

Integrated Pest Management—Stalk Borer Ecology and Pest Management Options in Corn and Soybean

Stalk borers can heavily infest crops that are adjacent to grass terraces, fence lines, or grass waterways and cornfields. Cultural and chemical management techniques are discussed.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/extension_ag_pubs/1182/thumbnail.jp

Soybean aphid scouting and management

Management activities for most soybean insect pests consist of scouting, use of thresholds, insecticide applications when necessary, and prevention through cultural activities. Probably the most practical scouting method for soybean producers is to take soybean aphid counts on leaves. This method is useful for pest detection when insect densities are low

Soybean aphid biology

The soybean aphid was first reported in Iowa in 2000. It has survived the winter and colonies are now being found south of Decorah in Winneshiek County in northeastern Iowa. Aphid colonies were very small, often less than 10 aphids on a plant, and they were clustered on the underside of the newly developing trifoliate leaves. The aphids were difficult to find and checking 20 plants at random in several fields was not a large enough sample to detect these small population

Expect lots of bean leaf beetles in 2000

If you read the bean leaf beetle prediction in the May 1 ICM newsletter, you\u27ll know that winter mortality of this soybean pest is expected to be at a 12-year low. The result will be that we should have more bean leaf beetles this spring than during an average year. In fact, our predictions, based on summer population increases during the last several years coupled with the mild winter, are for the populations to be very large. Sweep samples taken from alfalfa fields in Ames on May 2 indicate that the beetles are extremely abundant; they should move to soybeans as soon as the plants germinate

Estimating oil concentration and flow rate with calibrated vessel-mounted acoustic echo sounders

As part of a larger program aimed at evaluating acoustic techniques for mapping the distribution of subsurface oil and gas associated with the Deepwater Horizon-Macondo oil spill, observations were made on June 24 and 25, 2010 using vessel-mounted calibrated single-beam echo sounders on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Thomas Jefferson. Coincident with visual observations of oil at the sea surface, the 200-kHz echo sounder showed anomalously high-volume scattering strength in the upper 200 m on the western side of the wellhead, more than 100 times higher than the surrounding waters at 1,800-m distance from the wellhead, and weakening with increasing distance out to 5,000 m. Similar high-volume scattering anomalies were not observed at 12 or 38 kHz, although observations of anomalously low-volume scattering strength were made in the deep scattering layer at these frequencies at approximately the same locations. Together with observations of ocean currents, the acoustic observations are consistent with a rising plume of small (\u3c 1-mm radius) oil droplets. Using simplistic but reasonable assumptions about the properties of the oil droplets, an estimate of the flow rate was made that is remarkably consistent with those made at the wellhead by other means. The uncertainty in this acoustically derived estimate is high due to lack of knowledge of the size distribution and rise speed of the oil droplets. If properly constrained, these types of acoustic measurements can be used to rapidly estimate the flow rate of oil reaching the surface over large temporal and spatial scales

Biology and Management of Bean Leaf Beetle in Soybean

The bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata (Forster), is a widespread pest of soybean in the major crop production areas of the U.S. It has been a significant problem in the South but, until the last decade, was an infrequent problem in the Midwest. During earlier times, the major concern was early season invasion of soybean fields and localized problems of seedling defoliation. In the 1980\u27s, however, grower reports of pod feeding were received, and these have increased significantly until the present. Indeed, today the bean leaf beetle has become the most consistently important insect problem on soybean in our region. The purpose of this presentation is to update specialists on the soybean and outline a basic integrated pest management (IPM) system for the species in Iowa. To accomplish this, we will discuss foundation elements of IPM, including identification and biology, sampling for adults and pod injury, and economic thresholds. We will conclude by describing both preventive and curative tactics that can be employed to reduce losses from this growing pest problem