Reducing Risk to Pollinators: Pesticide Use in Forests

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Pesticide Use in Forests

Pollinators are rarely considered in the management of forests, where pesticides may be used for the eradication and suppression of pests such as the gypsy moth. Consequently, one must find out which pesticides are being applied to a particular forest, and use tools such as the USDA Forest Service Pesticide Fact Sheets http://infoventures.com/e-hlth/pestcide/pest-fac.htmlor Koppert’s Side Effects of Pesticides on Natural Enemies and Bumblebees calculator http://www.koppert.nl/e0110.html to investigate the potential risks to non-target organisms such as pollinators.

An important consideration in using pesticide for forest management are the secondary effects that reducing insects will have on the next tier of the forest food chain – birds, mammals, fish and other terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Many of these animals rely on caterpillars, larvae, and adult insects to feed their young, or depend on pollination services to plants for the production of seeds, fruits, roots, nuts, and foliage. Reduction in pollinators may have a domino effect in the ecosystem, not only for the plants that rely upon them for pollination, but also for the food sources they provide to other animals. Declines in pollinators can cause declines in migrant bird, mammal, and fish populations, affecting forest health in ways that extend far beyond the local ecosystem to the international level.

A) Forest Pests

Forest Pests of North America, Bugwood Network:

http://www.forestpests.org/

Comprehensive listing of insects, diseases, and other damage agents affecting forests in North America, plus links to publications and CD-ROMs.

Integrated Pest Management - Forest Pests, U.S. National Park Service:

http://www.nps.gov/phso/ipm/forest.htm

List of forest pests and links to fact sheets specific to each.

Forest Health - Forestry, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:

http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/18748/en

Includes links to FAO publications, including workshops, reports, and journal articles on international issues of forest and pest management.

Integrated Pest Management at the Canadian Forest Service (French-English), Canadian Forest Service:

http://www.glfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/ipm/

Canadian Forest Service home website, with links to current publications.

Forest Pest Management , Canada Department of Natural Resources:

http://www.gnb.ca/0078/fpm/involved.asp

Includes information on management, status of current pests, reports, and links to other sites.

Pesticide Fact Sheets, USDA Forest Service:

http://infoventures.com/e-hlth/pestcide/pest-fac.html

Each fact sheet provides detailed information on forest and land management uses, environmental and human health effects, and safety precautions for various pesticides and their formulations, including product names. Toxicity data refers to the active ingredient. Pollinators and other wildlife are sometimes mentioned in section 4 “Ecological Effects.”

B) Gypsy Moth Suppression

Forest Insect and Disease Leaflet – Gypsy Moth, USDA Forest Service:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/gypsymoth/gypsy.htm

Comprehensive review of gypsy moth (1992) life history, management, and recommendations for suppression. The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is one of the most notorious pests of hardwood trees in the Eastern United States. Provides a table of pesticides commonly used in gypsy moth suppression.

Gypsy Moth Digest, USDA Forest Service:

http://na.fs.fed.us/wv/gmdigest/

Provides multi-year gypsy moth suppression summaries for ~33 states and managed areas, including acres treated and pesticides employed.

Identification, Life-History, Damage, and Approaches to Controlling the Gypsy Moth, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Entomology:

http://www.gypsymoth.ento.vt.edu/vagm/Extension.html

Comprehensive information about gypsy moths in Virginia and throughout the U.S.

C) Mormon Cricket Suppression

Grasshoppers: Their Biology, Identification and Management, USDA-ARS:

http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/ID_Tools/F_Sheets/mormoncr.htm

Detailed life history information for the Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex.

D) Forest Tent Caterpillar Suppression

Forest Tent Caterpillars in Minnesota, University of Minnesota Extension Service:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG7563.html

This information was assembled by NAPPC’s EPA PESP Task Force in 2004-2005.

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