Abstract
The Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) has a mandated role in monitoring, forecasting, and managing populations of key locust species across four Australian states. Satellite normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) imagery is used to monitor vegetation condition in locust habitat and is integrated with mapping software to support forecasting and operations within the strategic framework of APLC activities. The usefulness of NDVI data for monitoring locust habitats is tested using historical control and survey records for the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker). In arid habitat areas, control of high-density nymphal populations was consistently associated with high and increased relative NDVI during summer and autumn, providing important information for locating possible infestations. Regression models of NDVI data and regional biogeographic factors were fitted to summer survey records of C. terminifera presence and abundance. Models identified increased vegetation greenness, measured by a one-month positive change in NDVI, as having a significant positive relationship with nymph distributions, while NDVI was significant in adult distributions. Seasonal rainfall regions and a binary habitat stratification were significant explanatory factors in all models.
Highlights
The Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) is responsible for the monitoring of locust populations across 2 million km[2], covering the inland areas of four states in eastern Australia, and for strategic management of those that could pose an interstate migration threat to agriculture
For nymph and adult control, comparative data on r-normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) monthly maxima, and change from the previous month are presented for each month by region (Table 1)
The trends in the two NDVI data types are the same, as relative index of NDVI (r-NDVI) is derived from NDVI, but large differences occur in their range for different regions
Summary
The Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) is responsible for the monitoring of locust populations across 2 million km[2], covering the inland areas of four states in eastern Australia, and for strategic management of those that could pose an interstate migration threat to agriculture. The management of the three locust species under the APLC charter1—the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker), the spur-throated locust, Austracris guttulosa (Walker), and the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria (L.)—relies on strategic population intervention through the detection and the aerial insecticide treatment of nymphal bands or adult swarms early in breeding sequences that potentially lead to plagues.[2]. Major infestations or plagues, affecting numerous regions across several states, occur irregularly and usually last 1 or 2 years.[3] Plagues result from several consecutive generations of successful breeding and rapid population increase, often linked by long-distance migrations to different regions. Impacts on agricultural crops usually occur in autumn or spring, coinciding with winter grain crop establishment and maturation, and can result in significant economic losses.[4,5] Swarm outbreaks of A. guttulosa and L. migratoria are less common and agricultural impacts have been largely restricted to Queensland and northern New South Wales (NSW)
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