1996 NCR-148 Meeting Summary *Migration and Dispersal of Insects and Other Biotic Agents* Best Western at O'Hare, Rosemont, IL Gail E. Kampmeier, submitted January 9, 1997 John Westbrook (TX) chaired the 11th annual meeting of NCR-148. Twelve scientists from AZ, IL, MI, NC, NY, OH, and TX attended the NCR-148 meeting, including Administrative Advisor Michael Chippendale, USDA/CSREES Representative Robert Riley, and Robert Hedlund from USAID. David Byrne (AZ) will chair the committee in 1997 and Casey Hoy (OH) was elected to serve as chair in 1998. Gail Kampmeier (IL) will continue to serve as Secretary/Treasurer in 1997 and was re-elected to the post for 1998. NCR-148 will meet next in Wooster, OH in the fall of 1997. 1996 NCR-148 letter of appreciation was awarded to Robert Riley for "deepest appreciation for [his] dedicated service as the CSREES liaison...[his] guidance, encouragement, and friendship." The letter was presented in a surprise ceremony along with other letters from well-wishers of his retirement at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in December. Movement & Dispersal-Related Meetings. AFAR sponsored a symposium entitled *Formulation and Evaluation of Hypotheses for Ascent, Transport, and Descent of Airborne Biota, organized by Gary Achtemeier and Scott Isard at the 12th Conference of Biometeorology* and Aerobiology at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Atlanta, GA on 30 January 1996. The AFAR Governing Board met following the symposium, and interested affiliates of NCR-148 were invited to participate in discussions on the way changes in the landscape influence the migration and dispersal pathways of various biota. Upcoming Conferences. *North Central Branch of the Entomological Society of America* will host a symposium organized by Casey Hoy on landscape patterns and IPM processes. The meetings will be in Columbus, OH the 2326 March 1996. Aerobiology '97, the annual symposium of the Pan-American Aerobiology Association will be held in Cambridge, MA on 1820 June 1997 at the Science Center of Harvard University. Contact Michael Muilenberg, Harvard School of Public Health, SPH 1, G-33, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115; ph. 617-432-0642; fax 617-432-3349 6th International Conference on Aerobiology will be held in Perugia, Italy 31 August5 September 1998. Contact Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Frenguelli, Chair of Conference Organizing Committee, Dept. of Plant Biology, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy; fax: +39-75-5856425. *Entomological Society of America & American Phytopathological Society* will be meeting jointly in Las Vegas, NV the 812 November 1998. Mike Irwin and Don Aylor are planning a joint symposium on aerial dispersal of insects and plant pathogens for the meeting. Input from NCR-148 was solicited. Other Business. Home Page. NCR-148 has had a home page on the World Wide Web since spring of 1995. Browsers can reach various other migration & dispersal related sites from our home page. *A Long-Term Aerobiological Research Corridor* *for Characterizing and Forecasting the Aerial Flow of Biota between the Subtropical and Continental Interior Regions of North America.* This newly revised proposal was presented by Stuart Gage and Scott Isard to the NCR-148 group for their input. The proposal, which targets the calibration and validation of atmospheric transport of a select group of aerobiota that use the North American corridor for long-distance movement, was discussed at length, along with possible funding avenues. Several members wanted to see the proposal broadened from the original focus on the continental interior bounded by the Rocky Mountains on the west and Appalachians on the east to encompass all of the North American aerobiological corridors that are delineated by landscape and meteorological events. Concerns were also raised by the interpretation of long-distance movement, which is relative to the organism under consideration. The proposal would establish a network of biological sampling locations that are associated with National Weather Service radar sites. The use of standard, permanent sites with standard methods, would provide continuity over growing seasons and over the years and enable the integration of the data into models that may be used to forecast the arrival of pests into a region. The proposal would also encourage the use of resources from other agencies, including NOAA (National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Association), and regional committees such as NC-193. Input on all phases of the proposal was solicited as well as a list of potential cooperators. Gage and Isard will use the comments and suggestions from this meeting to prepare another draft for wider distribution. State & Agency Reports. *Arizona* scientists are investigating the vertical components of whitefly dispersal in the field. Preliminary results show an intense concentration of the flying population near to the ground, but more recent work with traps suspended from balloons shows that whiteflies can be captured at heights of at least 50 m during early morning hours. This indicates that a portion of the population dispersing from a field immediately rises to reasonably high altitudes. *Illinois* and *Kansas* researchers looked at the movement of stableflies in and around feedlots. During the daylight hours, flies often moved from the feedlots to nearby resting sites, flying less than 3 m above the ground. Despite numerous model airplane sorties (see *New York), they were unable to catch a single fly in the planetary boundary layer. Even in light winds when the airplane sampled the atmosphere 3 m above the backs of the cattle (4-5 m altitude), they were unable to capture flies. New York* has developed an aerial collection device for trapping live insects that uses a model airplane with an 8-ft wing span with "off the shelf" technology where possible. The current model samples 3.5 m3/sec (goal is 10) at various altitudes; operates in windy and turbulent conditions; and is relatively easy to operate and maintain. Sampling flights targeting the potato leafhopper have been conducted over agricultural fields and hardwood forest. *North Carolina* plant pathologists and meteorologists successfully operated (5 March8 Aug. 1996) a real time spore transport model to forecast the intracontinental movement of tobacco blue mold spores within the eastern US and Canada. The system provided county agents, growers, industry and the media with forecast outlooks on the WWW: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/bluemold/ *Ohio* researchers have developed a model of aster yellows epidemiology to explore strategies for managing this important disease of vegetable crops. The current hypothesis is that interplant flights by males have little effect on transmission rates within fields, whereas, mated females, moving only infrequently and to nearby plants, are largely responsible for the clusters of aster yellows infected plants. Interfield and possibly regional movement of the phytoplasma may be due to leafhopper flight above the canopy, during crepuscular flights. *Texas* USDA researchers targeted the positive identification of migrating insects seen by radar, a significant portion of which were suspected corn earworm adults. Dr. V.A. Drake and I.T. Harman, Univ. of New South Wales, and Dr. G. McCracken, Univ. of Tennessee collaborated in the field efforts, which will lead to significant progress on the identification of flying insects, bats, and other organisms. *USAID.* Although there are no funds specifically earmarked for migration, agricultural support for international centers and CRSPs are funding migration research indirectly, particularly in the IPM CRSP, which is looking at how insect migration affects crops grown in transition areas (irrigation of deserts or forests that are becoming deserts).
Last updated 1 June, 2007 This page was constructed by Gail Kampmeier at gkamp[at]uiuc.edu Please direct questions of content and prospects of collaborative research to respective scientists. Research reports do not constitute publication and results may be preliminary. They are included here for informational purposes only. You should contact the authors for further information. Any references to commercial products do not constitute endorsement. [ NCR-148 \| Movement & Dispersal Index \| News Index ]

1996 NCR-148 Meeting Summary

Migration and Dispersal of Insects and Other Biotic Agents
Best Western at O'Hare, Rosemont, IL
Gail E. Kampmeier, submitted January 9, 1997

John Westbrook (TX) chaired the 11th annual meeting of NCR-148. Twelve scientists from AZ, IL, MI, NC, NY, OH, and TX attended the NCR-148 meeting, including Administrative Advisor Michael Chippendale, USDA/CSREES Representative Robert Riley, and Robert Hedlund from USAID. David Byrne (AZ) will chair the committee in 1997 and Casey Hoy (OH) was elected to serve as chair in 1998. Gail Kampmeier (IL) will continue to serve as Secretary/Treasurer in 1997 and was re-elected to the post for 1998. NCR-148 will meet next in Wooster, OH in the fall of 1997.

1996 NCR-148 letter of appreciation was awarded to Robert Riley for "deepest appreciation for [his] dedicated service as the CSREES liaison...[his] guidance, encouragement, and friendship." The letter was presented in a surprise ceremony along with other letters from well-wishers of his retirement at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in December.

Movement & Dispersal-Related Meetings. AFAR sponsored a symposium entitled Formulation and Evaluation of Hypotheses for Ascent, Transport, and Descent of Airborne Biota, organized by Gary Achtemeier and Scott Isard at the 12th Conference of Biometeorology and Aerobiology at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Atlanta, GA on 30 January 1996. The AFAR Governing Board met following the symposium, and interested affiliates of NCR-148 were invited to participate in discussions on the way changes in the landscape influence the migration and dispersal pathways of various biota.

Upcoming Conferences.

North Central Branch of the Entomological Society of America will host a symposium organized by Casey Hoy on landscape patterns and IPM processes. The meetings will be in Columbus, OH the 2326 March 1996.

Aerobiology '97, the annual symposium of the Pan-American Aerobiology Association will be held in Cambridge, MA on 1820 June 1997 at the Science Center of Harvard University. Contact Michael Muilenberg, Harvard School of Public Health, SPH 1, G-33, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115; ph. 617-432-0642; fax 617-432-3349

6th International Conference on Aerobiology will be held in Perugia, Italy 31 August5 September 1998. Contact Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Frenguelli, Chair of Conference Organizing Committee, Dept. of Plant Biology, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy; fax: +39-75-5856425.

Entomological Society of America & American Phytopathological Society will be meeting jointly in Las Vegas, NV the 812 November 1998. Mike Irwin and Don Aylor are planning a joint symposium on aerial dispersal of insects and plant pathogens for the meeting. Input from NCR-148 was solicited.

Other Business.

Home Page. NCR-148 has had a home page on the World Wide Web since spring of 1995. Browsers can reach various other migration & dispersal related sites from our home page.

A Long-Term Aerobiological Research Corridor for Characterizing and Forecasting the Aerial Flow of Biota between the Subtropical and Continental Interior Regions of North America. This newly revised proposal was presented by Stuart Gage and Scott Isard to the NCR-148 group for their input. The proposal, which targets the calibration and validation of atmospheric transport of a select group of aerobiota that use the North American corridor for long-distance movement, was discussed at length, along with possible funding avenues. Several members wanted to see the proposal broadened from the original focus on the continental interior bounded by the Rocky Mountains on the west and Appalachians on the east to encompass all of the North American aerobiological corridors that are delineated by landscape and meteorological events. Concerns were also raised by the interpretation of long-distance movement, which is relative to the organism under consideration.

The proposal would establish a network of biological sampling locations that are associated with National Weather Service radar sites. The use of standard, permanent sites with standard methods, would provide continuity over growing seasons and over the years and enable the integration of the data into models that may be used to forecast the arrival of pests into a region. The proposal would also encourage the use of resources from other agencies, including NOAA (National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Association), and regional committees such as NC-193. Input on all phases of the proposal was solicited as well as a list of potential cooperators. Gage and Isard will use the comments and suggestions from this meeting to prepare another draft for wider distribution.

State & Agency Reports.

Arizona scientists are investigating the vertical components of whitefly dispersal in the field. Preliminary results show an intense concentration of the flying population near to the ground, but more recent work with traps suspended from balloons shows that whiteflies can be captured at heights of at least 50 m during early morning hours. This indicates that a portion of the population dispersing from a field immediately rises to reasonably high altitudes.

Illinois and Kansas researchers looked at the movement of stableflies in and around feedlots. During the daylight hours, flies often moved from the feedlots to nearby resting sites, flying less than 3 m above the ground. Despite numerous model airplane sorties (see New York), they were unable to catch a single fly in the planetary boundary layer. Even in light winds when the airplane sampled the atmosphere 3 m above the backs of the cattle (4-5 m altitude), they were unable to capture flies.

New York has developed an aerial collection device for trapping live insects that uses a model airplane with an 8-ft wing span with "off the shelf" technology where possible. The current model samples 3.5 m3/sec (goal is 10) at various altitudes; operates in windy and turbulent conditions; and is relatively easy to operate and maintain. Sampling flights targeting the potato leafhopper have been conducted over agricultural fields and hardwood forest.

North Carolina plant pathologists and meteorologists successfully operated (5 March8 Aug. 1996) a real time spore transport model to forecast the intracontinental movement of tobacco blue mold spores within the eastern US and Canada. The system provided county agents, growers, industry and the media with forecast outlooks on the WWW: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/bluemold/

Ohio researchers have developed a model of aster yellows epidemiology to explore strategies for managing this important disease of vegetable crops. The current hypothesis is that interplant flights by males have little effect on transmission rates within fields, whereas, mated females, moving only infrequently and to nearby plants, are largely responsible for the clusters of aster yellows infected plants. Interfield and possibly regional movement of the phytoplasma may be due to leafhopper flight above the canopy, during crepuscular flights.

Texas USDA researchers targeted the positive identification of migrating insects seen by radar, a significant portion of which were suspected corn earworm adults. Dr. V.A. Drake and I.T. Harman, Univ. of New South Wales, and Dr. G. McCracken, Univ. of Tennessee collaborated in the field efforts, which will lead to significant progress on the identification of flying insects, bats, and other organisms.

USAID. Although there are no funds specifically earmarked for migration, agricultural support for international centers and CRSPs are funding migration research indirectly, particularly in the IPM CRSP, which is looking at how insect migration affects crops grown in transition areas (irrigation of deserts or forests that are becoming deserts).