INVESTIGADORES
GRILLI Mariano Pablo
artículos
Título:
An area-wide model approach for the management of a disease vector planthopper in an extensive agricultural system
Autor/es:
GRILLI, M.P.
Revista:
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
Editorial:
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Referencias:
Lugar: Londres; Año: 2008 p. 308 - 318
ISSN:
1461-9563
Resumen:
The ?Mal de R´ıo Cuarto? disease in maize is a viral disease caused by a reovirus (MRCV)
and transmitted by the delphacid planthopper Delphacodes kuscheli Fennah in a persistent
manner. Although the disease is endemic in only one provincial department, when regional
outbreaks occur the losses in maize production are very significant.
Actively dispersing D. kuscheli individualswere collected from 15 sampling sites during the
1999 and 2000 spring seasons using sticky traps placed at 6m above ground level, designed
to detect flying individuals.
Insect host patches were surveyed using Landsat 5 TM images for the periods studied.
Two critical landscape metrics, total class area and mean proximity index, were calculated
using FRAGSTATS 3.3 on the winter pasture satellite images.
Amultiple regression model showed the relationship between host patch area, mean proximity
index and D. kuscheli abundance to be highly significant (R2 = 0.96, r = 0.98, P < 0.0001).
Spatial simulations of different host areas and different interpatch separations were
created in order to test the effect of these metrics on the abundance of the dispersing
individuals. The estimate of the insect?s abundance showed that, although patch size is
very important in determining mean insect abundance in an area, the separation of these
patches is crucial to establish the effect of host patch area on the abundance of dispersing
individuals.
Until now, disease management consisted in modifying sowing dates in order to avoid
maximum D. kuscheli abundances and thus minimize risk of Mal de R´ıo Cuarto Disease. Our
results show that a rational area-wide management of host patches can keep