LPLF10364 Biological Control of Pests

Details
Responsible DepartmentDepartment of Agriculture and Ecology

Earliest Possible YearBSc. 2 year
DurationOne block
 
Credits7.5 (ECTS)
 
Level of CourseJoint BSc and MSc
 
ExaminationFinal Examination

oral examination

Practical Examination


All aids allowed

Description of Examination: The exam will consist of Individual oral presentation of a short report on experimental work. Each student will be asked questions directly related to the report and questions related to the the overall curriculum of the course

7-point scale, internal examiner
 
Requirement for Attending ExamCompletition of report for oral presentation
 
Block PlacementBlock 2
Week Structure: B
 
Language of InstructionEnglish
 
Optional Prerequisites240011 
The course is planned for both KU students, and foreign students. Therefore, the recommended prerequisites as written as named courses can be difficult to specify.
 
RestrictionsMax 25 participants due to laboratory facilities
 
Course Content
General part:

The course will include all four strategies for biological control of pests: classical, inoculation, inundation, and conservation

The major groups of organisms used in biological control will be presented: their ecology, life cycles, mechanisms of action etc. Organisms considered include predators, parasitoids, microorganisms, nematodes, vertebrates

Methods for isolation and selection of biological control organisms as well as application methods will be discussed.

Also included are monitoring populations and activity levels of biological control agents following application to the crop and release into the environment.

Other key words include:

Natural regulation of pests
Risk assessment of biological control organisms, legislation and BCA registration.
Ethical aspects and public acceptance.
Cases on practical application of biological control within agriculture, horticulture, forestry, husbandry, urban environment and other managed landscapes.


Experimental part

The students will perform a limited set of experiments related to biological control. Examples are:

* Characterization of insect pathenic fungi
* Insect prey and insect predator interactions (behaviour etc)
* Action of insect parasitic nematodes
* Bio-assays using microorganisms for biological control

A limited treatment of data and discussion in relation to relevant literature will be included in the student report
 
Teaching and learning Methods
The teaching and learning methods will include: Lectures: overview of strategies, organisms involved, history of biocontrol, methodologies Theoretical exercises involving: discussion of orginal scientific literature with emphasis on conceptual elements and case studies Practicals: limited experimental work in teams, by selecting from a set of options. The experiments should be performed by setting up hypothesis for discussion. The options include for example: Interaction between predator and prey, natural occurence of insect pathogenic fungi and nematodes, bio-assays using microorganisms, characterization of biocontrol organisms, bioimaging of infection processes. Colloquia: The participants decide with the main teacher about content and form of colloquia. Excursion: one field sampling excursion to find and diagnose natural enemies of pests (mainly arthropods) Supervision: each team in the laboratory will be supervised concerning methodology, data collection and treatment and discussion Preparation: for theoretical excercises, colloquia and practicals, preparation in term of literature reading is needed.
 
Learning Outcome
Knowledge
After completition of the course the students should be able to:

* Can describe and understand the strategies used in biological control
* Know about about can describe the main types of organisms used for or of potential interest for biological control
* Describe methods used for diagnostics, isolation, characterization, bio-assays and field experiments of relevance for biological control

Skills

* Ability to select an organism for biological control in a specified system
* Ability to select relevant methods to study the interactions between biocontrol organism, target host and environment
* Ability to analyse and decide about potential risks using biological control both in a specified system and in a more general context
* Ability to use scientific literature to discuss own data


Competences

* Ability to transfer the knowledge into other decision processes about multitrophic interactions of ecological relevance
* Ability to perform and analyse experimental work including two or three organisms
* Ability to transfer the knowledge into other decision processes involving cross diciplinary elements, for example: biology, managed systems, and ethics


 
Course Literature
Hajek, A., 2004: Natural enemies. Cambridge University Press

Kompendium material/photocopies of scientific articles

Manuals for practicals
 
Course Coordinator
Jørgen Eilenberg, jei@life.ku.dk, Department of Agriculture and Ecology/Section of Zoology, Phone: 353-32692
 
Study Board
Study Committee NSN
 
Work Load
lectures18
theoretical exercises20
practicals60
preparation75
examination4
Colloquia10
Excursions8
supervision10

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