Monitoring and Decision Tools

Abstract

Insect monitoring is an important component of pest management. Economic losses due to insects and unnecessary pest management expenses can be avoided using insect monitoring and decision-making tools such as economic thresholds, predictive models, and expert systems to determine the best time to suppress pest populations. Research on insect monitoring and decision-making tools is as important in developing a successful integrated pest management (IPM) program as research on methods for suppressing pest populations. Better timing of pest suppression using monitoring and decision-making tools can improve the cost-effectiveness of pest management as much as developing better methods for suppressing insect populations. Other chapters in this book discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different methods for suppressing pest populations. This chapter focuses on methods for determining the best time to suppress pest populations. Establishing a threshold insect infestation level at which population suppression prevents economic losses is important because estimation of actual insect density or damage is more time consuming and expensive than classifying insect populations or their damage (Subramanyam et al. 1997). Models forecasting insect population density from grain temperature and moisture can be used to predict the best time for monitoring or suppressing pest populations (Hagstrum 1994). Expert systems developed for management of stored-product pests (Flinn and Hagstrum 1990a, Longstaff 1997) use computer simulation models to help make an informed pest management decision.