Annual Reports

2002—Competitive Grants Programs

Contents
UC IPM Competitive Grants Program
Exotic Pests and Diseases Research Program
SAREP-UC IPM Education Grants

UC IPM Competitive Grants Program

The UC IPM Program research grants program funded 25 research projects by UC faculty and Cooperative Extension scientists throughout California for the 2002-2003 year. Funded projects were in the areas of applied field ecology, biological control, biorational use of pesticides and biotic agents, cultural controls, and decision support in more than a dozen commodities, rangeland, and urban landscapes. Twelve additional projects ended in 2002. Funded projects are listed and also detailed on the UC IPM Web site. Also view the Web site for a copy of the request for proposals and additional information about the research program. Three ongoing UC IPM research projects are highlighted here.

A new research project undertaken by UC Riverside Entomologists Beth Grafton-Cardwell and John Trumble will develop monitoring methods and economic thresholds for the cottony cushion scale in citrus in relationship to populations of its coccinellid predator, the vedalia beetle. UC Davis Vertebrate Specialist Terry Salmon is investigating the foraging activities of the California ground squirrel to adapt management practices to the pest behavior.   UC IPM Advisor Jim Stapleton, UC Davis Vegetable Crops Specialist Jeff Mitchell, and UC Davis Entomologist Charles Summers examine vegetables growing in scattered straw mulch. Preliminary findings from their UC IPM-funded research on a variety of mulch types indicate a reduction in virus symptoms and better growth in squash growing in mulched plots.

With funds from a Special Research Grant provided by USDA-CSREES, the Exotic Pests and Diseases Research Program (EPDRP) has approved $1.1 million in research projects for 2001-2004 and an additional $1.5 million for 2002-2005. In the second round of funding, 15 projects were selected from 31 proposals submitted. The 30 currently funded projects represent studies of a broad range of pathogens, insects, vertebrates, nematodes, and weeds. At its inaugural Research Workgroup on October 10, 2002, participants had the opportunity to interact with principal investigators, who presented progress reports on their work, and heard invited presentations.

The EPDRP also co-sponsored the UC Davis Invasive Species Symposium held in Davis in June 2002, and the Third California Conference on Biological Control held in August 2002.

Established in 2001, the Exotic Pests and Diseases Research Program is a joint program of the UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research and UC IPM. The program, which targets research on exotic pests and diseases important to California, aims not only at improving our knowledge of pests that have already arrived in California, but also at getting a head start on some of those that pose a likely threat to the state. Additional funds are being sought to extend the program and if successful, the EPDRP will request new proposals in spring 2003.

UC IPM and the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program again jointly sponsored a mini-grants program to support workshops, field days, seminars, and other educational outreach events held between July 2002 and June 2003. UC IPM funded 6 projects sponsoring 11 events.

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