Economic Injury Level and Economic Threshold as required by Forest Stewardship Council for management of leaf-cutting ants in forest plantations

JIMÉNEZ, NADIA; FOSCO, IGNACIO; NASSAR, GUSTAVO; ÁNCHEZ RESTREPO, ANDRÉS FERNANDO; DANNA, MATÍAS; CALCATERRA, LUIS ALBERTO

AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2020

1461-9555

1. The most commonly used method to control insect pests such as leafcutting ants (LCA) in forestations is the application of chemicalinsecticides, but because of their negative effect on the environment,their use was forbidden in forest plantations certified by the ForestStewardship Council (FSC).2. A five-year moratorium of their prohibition was obtained in 2016 inArgentina, with the condition that forestry companies reduce pesticidedoses by 5% per year and inform the level of economic damage (LED).3. For the first time, we estimated the LED and the threshold of action(TA) for LCA in the Acromyrmex genus. As a model, we used the damagecaused by the most detrimental LCA species of Argentina (Acromyrmexlundii) in the first and most critical year of a willow plantation (Salixnigra) in the Paraná River low basin.4. The LED (11 nest/ha) was useful to demonstrate the real magnitudeof the damage caused by A. lundii and justified the need for its control,but the TA for profitable production (3 nests/ha) was not operativelyapplicable in a management program. This research could beextrapolated to other Acromyrmex and/or forestry species in this ornearby regions.