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SYLLABUS: |
3 credit hours (2 lectures/1 lab per week) |
INSTRUCTOR: |
Peter A. Rush 651-303-3331 Cell Phone |
TEACHING ASSISTANT: |
Emily Tenczar Office hours: By appointment |
Text: Hiratsuka, Y., Langor, D.W., and Crane, P.E. 1995. A field guide to forest insects and diseases of the prairie provinces. Special Report 3. Canadian Forest Service, Northwest Region, 297 pp.
This useful, inexpensive, and well-illustrated field handbook is required for the course and will be sold in Books Underground (St Paul campus bookstore). It covers insect, disease, and abiotic factors that impact forest health. The book is divided into three major color-coded sections; one for insects and diseases of conifers, one for insects and diseases of hardwoods, and one for other damaging agents. Also in the book is a host index listing pest species and disorders by host species and affected part of host; a glossary of technical terms; a general reference section; and a general index listing common and scientific names of hosts and pests as well as other damaging agents.
Text: James l. Castner. 2000. Photographic Atlas of Entomology and Guide to Insect Identification. Feline Press, Gainesville, FL 174 pp.
This is another useful, inexpensive, and well-illustrated text that is required for the course and will be sold in Books Underground (St Paul campus bookstore). It photographically covers insect anatomy, insect development, an over-view of the phylum arthropoda, and an order by order treatment of the class insecta which includes photographs of insect examples for many of the major families within each order.
The following references are on reserve in the Entomology, Fisheries, and Wildlife and/or Forestry Libraries:
Reading Assignments/Test Questions: Reading assignments will be given during some lecture periods. They will come from books and photocopied material on reserve in the library or from handouts provided in class. Test questions may come from material presented in lecture or lab, or from assigned readings that may not have been covered in lectures or labs.
Journal Resources: The following scientific journals often have articles that present research results on forest and shade tree insects: Agricultural and Forest Entomology, Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Canadian Entomologist, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Environmental Entomology, Forest Science, Journal of Arboriculture, and Journal of Chemical Ecology.
Databases: The following databases list citations and abstracts of articles on forest and shade tree insects. AGRICOLA, BIAG, BIOSIS, CAB ABSTRACTS, Current Contents (1994 to present), and TREE CD
We have created a web site for ENT 4251. The URL is: http://www.entomology.umn.edu/classes/ent4251/index.html
The site has a copy of the course syllabus, course announcements, links to many university and agency web sites on forest and shade tree entomology, and a color slide set illustrating many eastern forest insects from a variety of feeding/damage groups. Please use the web site to help you get the most out of the class. We will be posting the topic assignments for the oral presentations and giving examples of the term paper and an outline for the term paper only on the web site. Clarifications of lecture material and answers to questions of general interest will also be posted on this site from time to time so check it regularly.
Internet Resources: Netscape for internet access is available on computers in the Entomology, Fisheries, and Wildlife Library, on computers in the Forestry Library, and in the College of Natural Resources Computer Room.
To be announced
As the most diverse group and one of the most ancient of organisms on earth, insects have had a long period to co-evolve with plants. Insects have fed and reproduced on woody plants long before humans contemplated their uses for food and fiber. For urban and woodland foresters, horticulturalists, pest control operators, forest health protection specialists and general resource managers, the diagnosis and management of insects that feed on and colonize woody plants and their products is a challenging task. For forest ecologists insects present a major agent that influences the dynamics of the forest. In order to promote the longevity and growth of trees valued for wood products or property value enhancement, we need to identify, diagnose, and manage insect problems associated with trees. Management can range from the very simple and isolated to very complex and widespread. This course will emphasize the identification, biology, and diagnosis of insect caused damage associated with forest and shade trees. It will also examine the range of management options available to the resource managers. The course will also examine the interactive nature of factors that link insects and their habits to the forest ecosystem.
- Provide a general understanding of the biology of insects and related arthropods including anatomy, physiology, ecology, and behavior.
- Provide an appreciation for the role that insects play in forest dynamics with an emphasis on their diversity, ecological and economic impacts, and how they interact with other biotic and abiotic factors in the forest.
- Provide the skills to recognize significant forest and shade tree insects and to refer to these insects at the family, generic, and specific levels.
- Provide students with the skills to diagnose insect damage to trees with an emphasis on locating and applying the most current information available from state departments of agriculture and natural resources, federal regulatory and resource management agencies, universities, local extension offices, libraries, and from the Internet.
- Provide an understanding of integrated pest management with pest management options for the major forest and shade tree insects and, most importantly, provide students with the skills to evaluate and choose the most effective and safest available management options.
WEEK 1
Sept 6 Wed: Lec. 1) Overview of course mechanics: Learning resources, laboratories, oral presentations, term papers, grading, and a look at the impacts of insects on Minnesota's forest resources.
Sept 6 Wed: — Lab 1) No Laboratory sessions this week.
WEEK 2
Introduction to Insects:
Sept 11 Mon: Lec. 2) Overview of course content: An introduction to forest and shade tree entomology: historical, national, and international perspectives.
Sept 13 Wed: Lec. 3) What is an insect? : Basic morphology, physiology, development, and unique attributes of insects.
Sept 11 & 13 Mon/Wed: Lab 2) "Insect Relatives," Introduction to arthropods--learn to distinguish insects from related arthropods
WEEK 3
Sept 18 Mon: Lec. 4) Population biology of insects: Life tables, regulatory factors, endemic, epidemic populations
Sept 20 Wed:Lec. 5) Insects and trees: An overview of feeding or damage groups
Sept 18 & 20 Mon/Wed: Lab 3) Insect Morphology/Quiz
WEEK 4
Sept 25 Mon: Lec. 6) The effects of disturbances on forest insect populations.
General Management of Insects:
Sept 27 Wed: Lec. 7) ) Pest management vs. pest control: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) defined, monitoring, prevention, treatment, economic thresholds.
Sept 25 & 27 Mon/Wed:Lab 4) Insect classification.
WEEK 5
Oct 2 Mon: Lec. 8) Biological Evaluations
Oct 4 Wed: Lec. 9) Seed, cone, and seedling insects:Forest Insects by Feeding Groups (Specific Biologies and Management Techniques with Emphasis on Lakes States Insects), Dr. Steven Katovich, USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, St. Paul, MN
OUTLINES DUE FOR LITERATURE REVIEW TERM PAPERS
Oct 2 & 4 Mon/Wed:Lab 5) "Damage Categories," recognition of damage from feeding groups--learn to recognize damage from the insect feeding groups discussed in lecture and begin to associate damage on specific tree hosts with certain species of insects.
WEEK 6
Oct 9 Mon: Lec. 10) Cooperating agencies and organizations in forest health management
Oct 11 Wed: Lec. 11) Lecture Exam I
Oct 9 & 11 Mon/Wed: Lab 6) Lab Exam I Begin Student oral presentations.
WEEK 7
Oct 16 Mon: Lec. 12) Chemical, biological, silvicultural, and mechanical (sanitation) management techniques, Dr. Steven Katovich, USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, St. Paul, MN
Insect damage groups:
Oct 18 Wed: Lec. 13) Sucking insects
Oct 16 & 18 Mon/Wed: Lab 7) Seed and cone, seedling, shoot, and tip insects/continue student oral presentations
WEEK 8
Oct 23 Mon: Lec. 14) Defoliators: Diprionidae/Tenthredinidae-sawflies
Oct 25 Wed: Lec. 15) Defoliators: Tortricidae-spruce budworm and allies
Oct 23 & 25 Mon/Wed: Lab 8) Sucking insects—continue student oral presentations, Quiz
WEEK 9
Oct 30 Mon: Lec. 16) Defoliators: Lymantriidae-gypsy moth and allies
Nov 1 Wed: Lec. 17) Defoliators: Lasiocampidae-forest tent caterpillar and allies
Oct 30 & Nov 1 Mon/Wed: Lab 9) Defoliator families – continue student oral presentations
WEEK 10
Interactions of Forest Insects with Humans and the Environment:
Nov 6 Mon: Lec. 18) Insect management in the urban forest: Major pests of the metro-area forests, Andy Graves, Doctoral Candidate, Dept. Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Nov 8 Wed: Lec. 19) Lecture Exam II
LITERATURE REVIEW TERM PAPERS ARE DUE
Nov 6 & 8 Mon/Wed: Lab 10) Defoliators of forest trees I -- continue student oral presentations
WEEK 11
Nov 13 Mon: Lec. 20) USDA Forest Service, forest health protection and NEPA. Michael Conner, USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, St. Paul, MN
Nov 15 Wed: Lec. 21) Aerial photographic and sketch-mapping surveys. Dennis McDougal and/or Marc Roberts, USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, St. Paul, MN
Nov 13 & 15 Mon/Wed: Lab 11) Defoliators of forest trees II/continue student oral presentations
WEEK 12
Nov 20 Mon: Lec. 22) What is a healthy forest? Interactions of abiotic factors (e.g. salt, ozone) with forest trees. Dr. Michael Ostry, USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, St. Paul, MN
Insect damage groups: continued
Nov 22 Wed: Lec. 23) Shoot and tip insects.
Nov 20 & 22 Mon/Wed: Lab 12) Bark beetles and bark beetle pheromone traps – continue student oral presentations. Quiz
WEEK 13
Nov 27 Mon: Lec. 24) Bark beetles and Wood borers.
Nov 29 Wed: Lec. 25) Continuum of interactions between fungi and forest insects, Dr. Jenny Juzwik, USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, and Dept. of Plant Pathology, U of MN, St. Paul, MN
Nov 27 & 29 Mon/Wed: Lab 13) Wood borers and wood product insects – continue student oral presentations.
WEEK 14
Dec 4 Mon: Lec 26) Urban tree risk management, Jill Pokorny, USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, St. Paul, MN
Dec 6 Wed: Lec 27) Exotic invasive pests – Biology, distribution, impacts. Dr. Rob Venette, USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, St. Paul, MN
Dec 4 & 6 Mon/Wed: Lab 14) Case studies
WEEK 15
Dec 11 Mon: Lec 28) Exotic Invasive Pests, Dr. Steven Katovich, USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, St. Paul, MN.
Dec 13 Wed: Lec 29) Wood product insects, Course wrap-up and review.
Dec 11 & 13 Mon/Wed: Lab 17) Lab Exam II -- Finish student oral presentations
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FINAL EXAMINATION WILL BE GIVEN ON SATURDAY!!
Dec 16 Saturday:FINAL EXAM, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM, Room 203 Green Hall
Laboratory Sessions
There will be a quiz at the beginning of lab periods 4, 9 and 13 covering material from previous lab sessions. At the beginning of most lab periods the TAs will begin with a 10 to 15 minute summary of the past 3 lectures and answer any questions.
Oral Presentations
Each student will give a 10 to 15 minute presentation to the class briefly describing the biology of a forest or shade tree insect followed by a rational, convincing, and useful management program for the insect. The scenario is that the presenting student is a resource manager and the audience is an urban or rural neighborhood group that is concerned about the impact of the insect and the impact of the resource manager's management approach. Specific scenarios of pest and hosts will be supplied to the students on the ENT 4251 Course web site during the first week of the semester. The presentations will begin during the sixth lab session and continue until completed.
Written Papers
1. The content of the oral presentation will be summarized in a two-page paper to be handed in on the day that the presentation is given. The written summary should be prepared as if the student resource manager were handing it out to the neighborhood group. To gather information for the oral and written presentations, students are encouraged to use the Internet, Entomology, Fisheries, and Wildlife and Forestry Libraries, the ENT 4251 Course Web Site, the USDA Forest Service North Central Forest Experiment Station, the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area, State and Private Forestry, and the University of Minnesota Extension Service to find the most current information on the biology and management of their insect.
2. As a second writing assignment, students will write a three-to-five page paper designed as a critique of two or three recent scientific papers on a forest or shade tree insect of their choice. The insect can either impact wildland or urban forestry by damaging trees or by influencing land management plans. The scientific papers should be published in 1975 or later and the student should devote half of their writing to a review of the methods and results of the studies described in the papers and half of the paper to an evaluation of the scientific validity and applicability of the methods used in the published papers. An outline for this paper is due at the end of class on Wed Oct. 9th. The outline should give a list of the scientific papers that each student will evaluate and a brief discussion in outline form of what will be in the written 3 to 5 page paper.Literature review term papers are due at the end of class on Wednesday, Nov 8th.
GRADING
Lab Quizzes - 3 x 25 pts. each =75 pts.
Lab Exams - 2 x 50 pts. each =100 pts.
Insect Collection = 125 pts.
Oral Presentation =100 pts.
Written Paper =50 pts
Term Paper =150 pts
Midterm Exams - 2 x 100 pts. each =200 pts.
Final Exam - 200 pts. =200 pts.
Total = 1000 pts
GRADING POLICY
93 to 100% = A
90 to 92% = A-
87 to 89% = B+
83 to 86% = B
80 to 82% = B-
77 to 79% = C+
73 to 76% = C
70 to 72% = C-
67 to 69% = D+
60 to 66% = D
less than 60% = F
To request disability accommodations, or alternative formats of this material please contact Peter Rush or Diana Ritchmond, 219 Hodson Hall, 612-624-3278.
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