"Slow the spread" a national program to contain the gypsy moth

Alexei A. Sharov; Donna Leonard; Andrew M. Liebhold; E. Anderson Roberts; Willard Dickerson; Willard Dickerson

Treesearch

"Slow the spread" a national program to contain the gypsy moth

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Alexei A. Sharov, Donna Leonard, Andrew M. Liebhold, E. Anderson Roberts, Willard Dickerson, Willard Dickerson

Year:

2002

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Northern Research Station

Source:

Journal of Forestry. July/August.

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Abstract

Invasions by alien species can cause substantial damage to our forest resources. The gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) represents one example of this problem, and we present here a new strategy for its management that concentrates on containment rather than suppression of outbreaks. The "Slow the Spread" project is a combined federal and state government effort to slow gypsy moth spread by detecting isolated colonies in grids of pheromone-baited traps placed along the expanding population front from Wisconsin to North Carolina. Detected colonies are treated using Bacillus thuringiensis or mating disruption. Analyses to date indicate that this project has reduced spread by more than 50 percent.

Keywords

entomology and pathology, integrated pest management, invasive species

Citation

Sharov, Alexei A.; Leonard, Donna; Liebhold, Andrew M.; Roberts, E. Anderson; Dickerson, Willard. 2002. "Slow the spread" a national program to contain the gypsy moth. Journal of Forestry. July/August.