Abstract
Transgenic Bt cotton has impacted on the Australian cotton industry by largely controlling Lepidopteran pests and contributing to a major reduction in insecticide applications. As a consequence it has strongly supported the development of IPM in Australia. Nevertheless, because of the dominance of Bt cotton, it is important to ascertain what changes have occurred in the invertebrate community because any change may require adjustments to crop management that could impact on the greater community. In our studies of Australian transgenic crops we have found no consistent difference in the diversity or species richness of the beneficial communities in unsprayed Bt and conventional crops, and crop type accounted for about 5% of the variance between these communities. The most consistent differences were higher numbers in conventional crops of Lepidoptera (as expected), Chloropidae and Nabis kinbergii. Some initial findings also indicated that the application of broad-spectrum insecticides in Bt crops (used to control sucking pests) can sometimes flare mites more quickly in Bt than conventional cotton. Therefore, our conclusion is that the positive effect of insecticidal transgenic cotton reducing insecticide applications overshadows the slight differences between transgenic and conventional communities. We discuss the relationship between transgenic cotton and IPM in Australia, and future directions that these technologies may take.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods |
Editors | Peter G. Mason, David R. Gillespie, Charles Vincent |
Place of Publication | Morgantown, WV |
Publisher | USDA Forest Service |
Pages | 161-172 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | 3rd International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods - Christchurch, New Zealand Duration: 8 Feb 2009 → 13 Feb 2009 |
Conference
Conference | 3rd International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods |
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Country/Territory | New Zealand |
City | Christchurch |
Period | 8/02/09 → 13/02/09 |