Researchers Study Invasive Alien Insects

Insects can destroy crops, resulting in millions of dollars in lost yield.

 

That's why researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) want to know more about invasive alien insects before they become a threat here in Canada.

 

Dr. Meghan Vankosky is based in Saskatoon.

 

"The objective of the project was to identify a few insect species of concern that could become invasive in Canada and use information on their biology and the climate date from Canada in order to put those things into a model to predict where in Canada those particular species might become established and if they have known parasitoids or predators then we were also hoping to include the parasitoids and predators in that model because that would allow for future work in biological control."

 

Video: Episode 115: Home on the Range

We look at how high crop prices, driven in part by rising global food demand, biofuel incentives, and risk perspective and management, are encouraging the conversion of marginal grasslands into cultivated cropland. As more hay and pastureland is turned over to crop production, wildlife habitat becomes increasingly fragmented, leaving isolated “islands” of grass that may be too small to sustain functioning grassland ecosystems. We explore research using Alberta as a case study to understand the impact that conversion of hay and pasturelands into cropland could have on ecosystem intactness and biodiversity.