NCERA148: Migration and Dispersal of Agriculturally Important Biota (NCR-148)
Statement of Issues and Justification
Pests negatively impact the health of plants, animals, and humans, and degrade the quality of rural and urban settings and natural landscapes. International trade and enhanced travel have increased the rate at which exotic pest species have entered and become established in North America. Containment of exotics, a primary concern, can be greatly exacerbated by dispersal once they arrive. Rapid response plans that include the ability to predict the spread of high-risk organisms are needed. In effect, the lack of understanding of the principles underpinning migration and dispersal of pest and beneficial organisms across a wide range of spatial scales has dramatically impeded the development and deployment of effective and socially acceptable IPM programs. The migration and dispersal of biotic agents is, indeed, poorly understood primarily because its study requires a transdisciplinary team approach with access to technology only now becoming available.NCR-148 has met annually since 1984 and provides a positive forum for information exchange and advancements that cuts across disciplines, including landscape ecology, meteorology, entomology, bacteriology, plant virology, botany, and mycology. This forum has vastly increased the awareness of the critical role of migration and dispersal of biota in ecosystem dynamics. NCR-148 has fostered major interactions across commodity, discipline, and agency boundaries, and this has resulted in significant cooperative efforts, evidenced by the international aerobiology workshop (Oct. 1992), the formation of the Alliance for Aerobiology Research, the establishment of the ESCOP PMSS Movement and Dispersal Working Group, a generation of transdisciplinary research thrusts, and numerous national and international cross-disciplinary workshops and symposia. More recently, cooperative meetings have been arranged with other regional research committees, which will bring much needed expertise to their work. For example, the 2000 joint meeting of NCR-148/WCC-060 (Nov. 2001) aided research on pesticide resistance and its management. We have scheduled a second joint NCR-148/WCC-060 meeting for Fall 2004.
Additional progress is anticipated towards understanding and predicting movement of migratory pests and beneficial insects sharing atmospheric transport systems. Principles and methods gained from these studies apply across scales of dispersal, and present new opportunities for managing pests. New and continuing challenges face agriculture (e.g., exotic introductions, refuge strategies for resistance management, and areawide IPM). An emphasis on landscape scale approaches to managing pest and beneficial populations within the framework of IPM point to the importance of continuing and increasing effort at research and development on migration and dispersal. An increased understanding of dispersing biota and the influence of the environment, particularly the effects of landscape heterogeneity and atmospheric motion systems, are essential for the development of effective, environmentally compatible plant and animal protection and production. Continued cooperative research on movement of pests and beneficial insects will enhance economic benefit, human safety, and environmental quality through the sharing of knowledge and technology. The dearth of migration and dispersal information limits effective IPM implementation and justifies the continuance of NCR-148 for an additional five years.
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