No abstract

The cedar leaf moth (CLM), Acleris undulana Walsingham, has recently become an important pest in the cedar forests in southwestern Turkey. Control has focussed on the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, with little research having been conducted on alternative control methods. In this study, four botanical pesticides (two commercial neem products, Neemazal-T/S Ò and Greeneem Ò oil, and two hot water plant extracts, Origanum onites L. and Pimpinella anisum L.) were evaluated for their effects against young (first-second) and older (third-fifth) instar larvae of CLM under laboratory and field conditions. The results of larval dip bioassay in the laboratory showed that all the botanical pesticides tested had significant larvicidal activity against both young and older instars of CLM compared to the water-treated control. Of the botanical pesticides tested, Neemazal was the most larvicidal botanical, causing mortalities ranging from 84 to 100%, the least effective was the P. anisum extract, but at high concentrations this extract still caused significant mortality. Results from field trials also revealed that the botanical pesticides had larvicidal activity against CLM. Neemazal was the most larvicidal botanical, followed by Greeneem oil then by O. onites and finally by P. anisum. Our overall results suggest that all the botanical pesticides tested are promising as larvicides against CLM, and may provide an alternative control method that is more compatible with Integrated Pest Management programs than the use of synthetic chemical pesticides.

Točna procjena količine goriva je važan preduvjet za učinkovito upravljanje šumskim požarima. Ovo je istraživanje imalo za cilj razviti empirijske alometrijske jednadžbe za procjenu količine goriva iz krošnji stabala kalabrijskog bora (Pinus brutia Ten.) u jugozapadnom mediteranskom području Turske korištenjem dendrometrijskih varijabli. Destruktivnom metodom uzorkovana su 84 stabla. Uzorci grana u gorivu iz biomase krošnji klasificirani su kao iglice i kao grane prema sljedećem rasponu promjera: vrlo tanke (≤0,3 cm), tanke (0,31–0,6 cm), srednje (0,61–1,0 cm), debele (1,01–2,5 cm) i aktivno gorivo. Za procjenu biomase krošnjanja korištene su prsne visine, visine stabala, visine krošnji i širine krošnji kao neovisne varijable. Za analizu odnosa između goriva iz biomase i značajki uzorkovanih stabala korišteni su stepwise funkcija i modeli logaritamske linearne regresije. Od svih dobivenih alometrijskih jednadžbi, varijacija u tankim granama najbolje je objašnjena širinom krošnji i visinom krošnji, koje zajedno objašnjavaju R²_adj od 90.2 varijacije u tankim granama. Varijacija u vrlo tankim granama objašnjena je najslabije visinom stabla, koja samo objašnjava R²_adj od 60.4% varijacije u vrlo tankim granama. Ukupna količina goriva iz krošnji kalabrijskog bora u ovom istraživanju u usporedbi s istraživanjima u Grčkoj i Turskoj pokazuje da se gorivo iz biomase kalabrijskog bora može razlikovati od regije do regije.

Research highlights: Formica rufa is used widely for biocontrol in Turkish forests. Although ecological characteristics of red wood ant habitats are well known, the statistical significance of these characteristics and their effects on nest transplantation success are largely unknown. Having such knowledge on a local scale, however, can help to predict the success of a scheduled transplantation effort, and can prevent loss of time and money. Background and objectives: In the present study, we used nest transplantation data from southern Turkey to determine habitat parameters that have a significant impact on nest survival, and to investigate possibility of predicting transplantation success from habitat parameter data. Materials and methods: Algorithms of data mining are widely used in agricultural and forestry applications for a wide range of tasks. In the present study, we used descriptive statistics to summarize the transplantation profile according to six habitat parameters (altitude, aspect, canopy closure, landform, nest substrate, and slope). We also used classification, a data mining approach, with two of its methods (decision tree and naïve Bayes) to determine the most important habitat parameters for nest survival and predict nest transplantation success in southern Turkey. Results: We found that altitude, aspect, and canopy closure were the most important factors affecting transplantation success. We also show that classification methods can be used in not only classifying, but also predicting the success rate of future transplantations. Thus, we show that the possibility of success for a given area can be predicted when certain parameters are known. Conclusions: This method can assist biological control practitioners in planning biocontrol programs and selecting favorable spots for red wood ant nest transplantation.

In this study, 50 female and 50 male 5-month-old captive-bred chukar partridges (Alectoris chukar) were released in 2012 into nature and monitored in the Çamkuyular Cedar Research Forest, Elmalı, Antalya. All individuals were tagged with colored leg tags and 15 also had radio transmitters attached. Over 4 months, the chukars were hunted by their natural predators, with the last dead bird found in January 2013. Of the 33 dead birds, 60.6% (n: 20) had been killed by large mammals and 39.4% (n: 13) by predatory birds. This study indicates that chukars produced in captivity are unable to successfully adapt to nature following release, primarily because they are unable to protect themselves against their natural predators. This suggests that a strategy favoring protection rather than bird release should be implemented in areas with declining partridge stocks.

Nural İMİK TANYILDIZI ** Öz Araştırmanın amacı, Türkiye'de görev yapan kamu iç denetçilerinin iletişim becerilerinin yaş, cinsiyet, medeni durum, iç denetçilik kadrosundaki toplam çalışma süresi, öğrenim durumu, mezun olduğu fakülte ve çalışmakta olduğu kurumun bütçe türü değişkenleri açısından anlamlı düzeyde farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığının incelenmesidir. Araştırmaya Türkiye'de görev yapan 221 Kamu İdaresine atanmış toplam 798 iç denetçiden bu araştırmayı kabul eden 521 tanesi katılmıştır. Araştırmaya katılan personelin iletişim beceri düzeyleri Ersanlı ve Balcı (1998) tarafından geliştirilen İletişim Becerileri Envanteri ile ölçülmüştür. Araştırma bulgularına göre kamu iç denetçilerinin iletişim beceri düzeyinin yüksek olduğu belirlenmiştir. Kamu iç denetçilerinin, medeni durum, iç denetçilik kadrosundaki toplam çalışma süreleri, öğrenim durumları ve mezun oldukları fakülte değişkenlerine bağlı olarak, iletişim becerilerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılıklara ulaşılamamıştır. Elde edilen bulgular literatür ışığında yorumlanmış ve önerilerde bulunulmuştur.