Use of a geographic information system to produce pest monitoring maps for south Texas cotton and sorghum land managers
Academic Article
Overview
Research
Identity
Additional Document Info
Other
View All
Overview
abstract
2017 Elsevier Ltd Geographic information system (GIS) tools were used to create pest monitoring maps based on field insect pest monitoring data taken during a two-year demonstration project in south Texas, 20152016. GPS-enabled handheld devices with GIS software were preloaded with a basemap and shapefiles containing insect abundance and plant injury data entry lines. Pest monitoring data were entered and stored on the handheld device while conducting otherwise normal pest monitoring activities. The shapefiles were then transferred to a standard desktop computer, where pest monitoring maps were produced using GIS mapping software. Dots using a 5-color scheme were projected and mapped corresponding to the sampling sites. The color scheme represented five different insect density categories relative to the economic threshold of the insect being monitored: green shades were chosen for two categories below the economic threshold, yellow was chosen for a category that included the economic threshold, and orange and red were chosen for two categories exceeding the economic threshold. The insects monitored were cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter), and verde plant bug, Creontiades signatus Distant, (Hemiptera: Miridae), on cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., and sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), on sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.). Pest monitoring maps were created and delivered to land managers within a half-day of data collection. The pest monitoring maps were used by cooperating land managers to better target and prioritize insecticide use to whole fields. Spatial variation in pest density along the field edges was observed. Considering future uses of the spatially variable data portrayed on the maps, a scenario of using insecticides in within-field precision zones matched to sampling sites resulted in a projected reduction of insecticide use (between 40 and 70% depending on the pest) compared with a scenario where insecticides were sprayed to whole fields based on field averages of pest density derived from the same data.
