A Review of Habitat Management for Anthropod Pest Control and Farmscaping at Geraldson Community Farm: A Pilot Project

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Lowman, Margaret

Keywords

Agroecology, Biological Control, Habitat Management, Theoretical Ecology

Area of Concentration

Ecology

Abstract

This is a two-part thesis. The first part is a literature review and analysis of the field of habitat management for pest control. The second part is a report on a farmscaping field project I conducted at Geraldson Community Farm in Bradenton, Florida. Habitat management refers to the set of techniques and practices designed to make a field habitat less attractive to pests, or more attractive to natural enemies, or both. It is a subset of conservation biological control, which seeks to augment the endogenous natural enemy fauna to achieve pest regulation. My literature review and analysis discusses this field in a wide-ranging context of agricultural and ecological theory. Case studies are emphasized. The establishment and impact on beneficial biodiversity of a flowering strip was assessed at a South Central Florida organic vegetable farm. It was hypothesized that a gradient of enhancement of the beneficial insect activity would be observed, with the highest levels of enhancement closest to the strip, and the lowest levels farthest away. This hypothesis failed to be accepted or rejected, due to the lack of success in the field of the experimental design. Qualitative and quantitative data are presented which are nonetheless useful to the project of implementing conservation biological control within the farm's pest management plan.

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