Assignment
This assignment will look at pest management to draw together various objectives in the course, such as insect biodiversity and the impact on human, reproductive, and developmental patterns; the anatomical structure and body plans of insects; the interactions of insects; and other components.
Present a summary of all the points covered in your Integrated Pest Management Program Paper in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, including the 10 bullets below:
A. Identify the common pests for the team's crop. What anatomical structures identify the pests? What are some similar pests? Are there any invasive pests in the area of your crop? If so, name them and explain if and how they impact your crop.
B. Develop criteria useful in identifying the pest that can be effectively used by the crop growers.
C. Include relevant embryological features and development patterns.
D. Research the population dynamics of the pests as related to the pests' use of the crop. Cite your sources.
E. How do human agricultural practices influence the population dynamics of these pests?
F. What are these pests' behavioral patterns? Examine how the pests' behavioral patterns relate to their population dynamics. How can these behavioral patterns be managed in IPM?
G. Are the pests' parasites or predators? For each pest, explain how the parasite's or predator's mechanism of action differs from those of the crop's other parasites or predators.
H. Address how the interactions between parasite or predator and host affect how susceptible the crop is to the pests and how the interactions may be used as elements of a control program.
I. What methods--biological, genetic, mechanical, physical, and insecticidal--control these pests?
J. What are the risks associated with each method to the grower, consumer, and other organisms in the environment surrounding the fields?
K. What is the team's recommendation for a control method that balances insect conservation and food production?