Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) is an important conifer in much of the southeastern United States. However, the species and its associated ecosystems are in decline, and recent evidence about hybridization with loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) raises concerns that the species may be at risk of further losses due to introgression. Although shortleaf pine is not widely planted for timber prod...

Understanding and monitoring ecological impacts of the expanding agricultural industry in Belize is an important step in conservation action. To compare possible alterations in herpetofaunal communities due to these anthropogenic changes, trapping arrays were set in a manicured orchard, a reclaimed orchard and a lowland broadleaf forest in Stann Creek district at Toucan Ridge Ecology and Educat...

Orchard workers are a population at risk for serious and disabling occupational injuries and illnesses. The purpose of this descriptive, exploratory study was to gather information about orchard workers' perceptions and experiences related to their work to better understand factors that contribute to their occupational risk. The sample consisted of 180 Hispanic orchard workers from 3 counties i...

Lead arsenate was used on orchard soils as a pesticide from 1900 to 1960. An in vitro method has been used to determine the bioaccessiblity of Pb in soils contaminated by Pb paint, fossil fuel combustion, and metallurgical industries. The Pb fraction that is potentially bioavailable from orchard soils, however, has not been reported. Potential reductions in availability of Pb and As as a result...

Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), injury to late-season apple cultivars was measured at harvest in 2011 and 2012 in commercial orchards in four mid-Atlantic states. In each orchard block, a border zone (adjacent to woods), an interior zone (near orchard center), and an intermediate zone (between border and interior zones) comprised 1-3 tree rows per zone, depending on block ...

`Kent' mango (Mangifera indica L.) ̄owers were sampled in an orchard in the coastal plain of Israel during the 1997 ̄owering season. Effective pollination rate was determined at two stages of the fertilization process: (a) pollen germination on the stigma; (b) pollen-tube penetration into the ovule. Pollination rates were negligible during the ®rst part of the ̄owering season (31 March to 18 Ap...

Insect-pathogenic fungi are important natural enemies of insect pests but their dynamics in the soils of different agroecosystems are incompletely understood. In the present study, the seasonal occurrence and species diversity of insect-associated fungi in soil were investigated by baiting soil samples with larvae of Galleria mellonella. The survey included insect-pathogenic fungi, opportunisti...

In this study we focus on the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), which has a strong dispersal capacity and has had a significant impact on several cropping systems, including peach (Prunus persica (L.)). Management of H. halys has relied on intensive insecticide use, and thus a better understanding of its dispersal behavior may assist in dev...

Although whiteflies Tetraleurodes perseae (Nakahara) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) are considered a secondary pest of avocado crops, their presence and the damages that they cause can decrease crop vigor and affect production. The objective of the present work was to determine the population fluctuation and altitudinal distribution of the T. perseae Nakahara whitefly in avocado trees, as well as to ...