a b s t r a c tHylobius abietis, a major problem for seedling survival on forested land, develops under the bark of stumps of felled conifers. We investigated the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) and fungi (EPF) applied to stumps to suppress adult emergence. We performed five field trials over three years and assessed results through destructive sampling and emergence trapping. We used two strategies in application: eradicant, where treatments were applied after weevil colonisation and prophylactic, where treatments were applied prior to colonisation. At prophylactic sites no treatment significantly reduced weevil emergence. At all eradicant sites, treatments including nematodes were more efficacious than those not. EPF-only treatment did not significantly reduce weevil emergence compared to controls, but there was a non-significant (P = 0.058) numerical reduction at one site. The effects of EPF and EPN were additive. There was evidence of mortality due to native Beauveria sp. at all three eradicant sites, identified as Beauveria caledonica at one. A proportion of weevils at depths of up to 18 cm in the soil were infected by the applied Beauveria bassiana showing that applied fungi can reach this cryptic pest. If choice of EPF strain and application technologies are optimised, EPF may present a viable control method for pine weevil in the future.

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Owing to the decreasing availability of synthetic pesticides, there is an urgent need for developing and improving alternative pest control methods in horticulture. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) aims to reduce and control the damage caused by pest organisms by making use of ecological interactions between the pest, its antagonists and the environment. IPM usually involves combined use of pesticides, pest antagonists, mass trapping and environmental manipulation. This gives rise to potentially negative interference amongst these components as well as with other environmental and crop-related factors. Such interference has the potential to reduce IPM efficacy, especially as the use of IPM is broadened and intensified. Evidence for such interference among components of IPM is briefly reviewed and the need for a research agenda that investigates such interference experimentally is discussed along with the potential for using 'big data' generated in IPM to conduct meta-analyses and construct powerful models for IPM. These approaches to research and data management should support the expansion and improvement of Decision Support Systems (DSS) for IPM practitioners that combine databases, expert networks and models. The success of DSS based on increasingly complex and extensive knowledge and data greatly depends on their accessibility, ease of use and whether they produce clear outputs that support decision-making by growers and consultants. The aim must be to improve IPM efficacy, predictability, cost-effectiveness and sustainability, while still finding ways of helping IPM practitioners identify IPM strategies that are optimal for their needs amongst an increasing number of options.

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are globally important inundative biological control agents.Their widespread use makes environmental risk assessment important, but very few comprehensive post-application risk assessments have been conducted for EPN. We apply a rigorous risk analysis procedure to the use of EPN applied in a forest ecosystem to suppress the large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis). In this synthesis, we provide a quantitative evaluation of five risk categories: a) establishment, b) dispersal, c) host range, d) direct non-target effects and e) indirect non-target effects. A low level of risk was identified (35 -51 out of a possible total of 125). Species exotic to the clear-fell forest ecosystem (Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis downesi) were accorded a lower overall risk status than native species and strains (Steinernema feltiae), largely as a result of their shorter persistence in the target environment. We conclude that EPN are a low risk viable alternative control for pine weevil compared to the higher risk conventional control using pyrethroid insecticides.

Segmentina nitida Müller 1774 is a rare European freshwater snail of drainage ditches and marshland, which has seen a marked decrease in range (~ 80%) over the last 100 years in the UK. This has been attributed to over-dredging of drainage ditches for land management, conversion of grazing marshes to arable farmland, as well as eutrophication. Segmentina nitida is identified as a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) that recommends further research to inform reintroduction and translocation for its conservation. We used nuclear markers (microsatellites and ITS2) and a mitochondrial (COI) marker to investigate population structure in S. nitida individuals sampled from Poland, Germany, Sweden, and the UK to identify differences within and between populations. Data based on 2D landmark-based geometric morphometrics of S. nitida shells was used to determine if phenotypic variation followed genetic differentiation. Two distinct genetic lineages of S. nitida were identified in ITS and COI phylogenies as well as cluster analysis of microsatellite markers, one of these lineages was present in eastern Europe (Poland, Sweden- Lineage 2), and one in western Europe (UK, Germany- Lineage 1), with lineages co-occurring in German populations. No genetic admixture was observed in German populations containing both lineages. These two lineages were also distinct in shape, with lineage 2 individuals having significantly wider shells and taller and wider apertures than those in Lineage 1. ~ 85% of shells assigned to the predicted lineage in a discriminant analysis of Procrustes shape coordinates. We infer that S. nitida includes at least one sympatric cryptic species. We discuss the implications of these findings on the conservation status of S. nitida in the UK and Europe.

European freshwater habitats are experiencing degradation and fragmentation, and this is causing population declines and range reductions in associated gastropod species. Accurate and time-efficient sampling methods are required for effective monitoring of such species, including Segmentina nitida, a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The diminutive size of S. nitida (adult shell width: 5–7 mm) and other small gastropods often makes them difficult to find among the vegetation in field samples. Here, we compare two sampling methods for gastropods from freshwater habitats with dense vegetation: a sift method where vegetation in a sample is examined by hand, and a wash method, where vegetation is washed in water that is then examined for gastropods. When sift and wash methods were compared for a single sample, there was no difference in the number of species detected with the two methods in all but 1 of 48 assessed samples. However, combining two wash steps and a sifting step yielded significantly more snail individuals and more S. nitida individuals. Though species richness as expressed by Menhinick’s index was significantly higher for the wash method compared to the sift method, index values for the two methods had a significant linear relationship. Splitting samples to assess each half with either wash or sift method indicated no significant difference in the number of species or number of individuals found with the two methods. The likelihood of detecting S. nitida in a sample and the number of S. nitida found was significantly higher for the wash method, and the wash method was significantly more time-efficient, saving c. 5 min per sample. We conclude that washing vegetation from freshwater samples without sifting through the vegetation by hand has the potential to accelerate surveys for freshwater gastropods and can increase the likelihood of detecting species of interest, especially S. nitida, without significantly affecting data accuracy. Further testing in various freshwater habitat conditions would allow wider use of this method in malacological and invertebrate studies.

The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of how engaging undergraduate students with research and research-related activities can be used to enrich their learning experience and enhance their employability prospects. There are two specific challenges in producing industry-ready science graduates: providing students with relevant subject specific and transferable skills and knowledge, and to provide them with appropriate industry engagement. The science undergraduate curriculum at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) includes research activities that are designed to move students from being recipients of knowledge to becoming collaborators in its production. This approach to "research-involved teaching" (RIT) provides students with opportunities to gain practical research experience through course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and individual undergraduate research experiences (UREs). Students on the CCCU science programmes are diverse, many coming from low-participation neighborhoods and/or with nontraditional entry qualifications who have taken up study via the Foundation Year in Science (pre Higher Education level) that can be taken as part of each of the science programmes. Such students in particular can benefit from RIT. This chapter briefly summarizes the development of undergraduate research in higher education and then presents examples of specific pedagogic interventions, CUREs and UREs used across the CCCU science programmes.