IPM vs. Sudden Oak DeathBy: Anna Billiard

IPM

What is IPM IPM is an approach to remove harmful

organisms IPM approach is based more on smarts

and less on squirting pesticides at the wrong tree.

Why Use IPM

While chemicals can be part of the IPM program, they are not always the best or the only solution to a pest problem. Chemicals can be costly and dangerous or inefficient when used incorrectly. We need to understand the behavior of a pest to manage it efficiently. Part of IPM is targeting the pest location rather than wasting time and money guessing where it may be and covering a larger area that really doesn’t need to be treated. This reduces pesticide use and directs management to the proper site.

The Six Steps to IPM Identify the pest's): Look at it, take a picture, look it

up. Understand the pest: what’s its life cycle? What

does it eat? Monitor the pest: Watch and learn Establish the consequences of the infestation: Is it

worth the time and money to exterminate? What if you don’t exterminate it? What will happen? What will be lost?

Find your strategy: Mechanical? Chemical? Biological?

Evaluate and improve: How did you do? What could you have done better?

The Six Tactics of IPM How many is too many? Control vs.

eradication. Acceptable numbers are site specific. It might be acceptable to have 10,000 pests at the racetrack, but not at your home.

Preventing the spread. You need to do more than wash your hands. Remove the diseased plants before they infect others.

The Six Tactics of IPM (cont.) Observation, Observation, Observation!

Write observations down (temperatures, species of tree, etc.) Identify your pest, then draw conclusions. Finding out the life and reproduction cycles of your pest can help you to determine the best time to eliminate your infestation.

The Six Tactics of IPM (cont.) Mechanical controls are the easiest way to

get rid of your pest. They include erecting insect barriers, using traps, and vacuuming. Don’t use the canon to kill the mosquito! Instead, use the fly swatter.

Biological controls are low cost and have minimal impact on the environment. They include natural pesticides and bringing in a natural predator to your infested area. Bring in the cat to kill the rat.

The Six Tactics of IPM (cont.) Chemical controls should be your last

resort. They harm the environment and often leave traces on the plants fruit. Synthetic pesticides are made in a factory and are the best example of a chemical control.

Sudden Oak Death

Introductions We aren’t sure where Sudden Oak

Death is from. The most likely answer, however, is that it is non-native originating in Germany and the Netherlands.

The scientific name of Sudden Oak Death is Phytophthora ramorum

Appearance When infected, the tree will start to “bleed”, or leak a darksubstance from the base of the trunk Hard, golf-ball size, dome-shaped fungal

bodies, which start out green and turn black

Leaves will rapidly change colorfrom green to brown.

Life Cycle Sudden Oak Death’s life cycle includes an

airborne phase, where spores float in the air until they land on an acceptable tree, particularly where water is available. Sudden Oak Death survives in soil for long periods, when a host isn’t present. After penetrating the leaf surface or bark of its host, Sudden Oak Death spreads through host tissue, producing leaf spots, dying twigs, and bleeding on the tree’s trunk.

Life Cycle

Impact No current impact in Pennsylvania,

however, it is possible that we may be infested later.

How to use IPM against Sudden Oak Death The chemical approach is the only one

that seems to be working