Clyde Sorenson

Brown stink bug, Euschistus servus, is the costliest and most problematic insect pest of corn in the southeastern US, and a major pest of soybean and cotton across the southeastern US and Midsouth. Our objectives are to 1. Measure stink bug populations in suitable host crops during the autumn where corn will be planted during the spring 2. Characterize overwintering habitats based on the categorization of host plants or forest structure 3. Measure brown stink bug colonization into spring corn adjacent to non-crop overwintering habitats and annual crops. 4. Estimate stink bug injury in focal corn fields 5. Assess corn yields relative to stink bug density and landscape features 6. Identify landscapes at risk for infestation by brown stink bug and create a risk map for the southeastern US 7. Document baselines for management of brown stink bug in field crops and disseminate brown stink bug risk management recommendation to relevant stakeholders

Our objectives are to 1. Classify stink bug overwintering habitats adjacent to corn based on the categorization of host plants and forest structure. 2. Measure brown stink bug colonization into spring corn adjacent to non-crop overwintering habitats and annual crops. 3. Estimate stink bug injury in focal corn fields 4. Relate corn yields to stink bug density and landscape features adjacent to fields.

The proposed research will identify the pollinators of three federally endangered plants found on Fort Bragg- rough-leafed loosestrife, Michaux's sumac, and American chaffseed. We will develop pollen libraries for plants in the vicinity of the endangered species. We will also attempt to describe gene flow within and between populations of the plants, and will determine the fate of seed. The proposed work is the last year of this multi-year project.

The balsam twig aphid is an important secondary pest of Fraser fir Christmas tree production in North Carolina. Some evidence suggests that it is developing resistance to bifenthrin, a pyrethroid insecticide critical to pest management in Christmas rtrees and one of the primary tools used to control balsam twig aphid. This research seeks to definitively determine if the insect is indeed resistant to the insecticide.

The proposed research will identify the pollinators of three federally endangered plants found on Fort Bragg- rough-leafed loosestrife, Michaux's sumac, and American chaffseed. We will develop pollen libraries for plants in the vicinity of the endangered species. We will also attempt to describe gene flow within and between populations of the plants, and will determine the fate of seed.

Pine straw can represent an important revenue stream in longleaf pine forests, but the practice has the potential to alter other aspects of the biota. Approximately 15 percent of the managed woodland on the Fort Bragg, North Carolina, military installation is currently raked, in concert with a three year prescribed burn rotation. Among the diverse flora and fauna are numerous endemic and near endemic species of regional and national significance, as well as five endangered species; resource extraction can potentially negatively affect these organisms. We are proposing research to understand the impacts of pine straw removal as practiced on Fort Bragg on the herbaceous plants and epigeal animals inhabiting the installations open longleaf pine woodlands. The experimental design will consist of replicated plots of three treatments: (1) raked stands after burning but before raking; (2) raked stands after raking but before the next fire cycle; and (3) Stands managed on the same burn rotation that are not raked. Within these plots, we will measure treatment effects on herbaceous vegetation, ground dwelling arthropods, Bachman??????????????????s sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis), and reptiles and amphibians. Vegetation effects will be measured through the use of sub-plot sampling. Arthropod effects will be measured through replicated pitfall sampling. Bachman??????????????????s sparrow response will be measured through repeated plot-wide surveys and hierarchal occupancy modeling, while reptile and amphibian response will be measured through cover board occupancy analyses. The products of this research will be used to inform raking management on the post, but the results of this work will also be useful for land managers responsible for longleaf forests in other parts of the Carolina Sandhills and beyond.

The proposed research will identify the pollinators of three federally endangered plants found on Fort Bragg- rough-leafed loosestrife, Michaux's sumac, and American chaffseed. We will develop pollen libraries for plants in the vicinity of the endangered species. We will also attempt to describe gene flow within and between populations of the plants, and will determine the fate of seed.

Partners in this proposal aim to establish Centers of Excellence at two different Liberian universities located in different parts of the country. North Carolina State University (NCSU) College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) faculty will contribute to the establishment of an Agricultural Center of Excellence located at Cuttington University. In this five year project lead by Research Triangle Institute (RTI), CALS faculty will be engaged in three main areas: post graduate education, curriculum development, assistance with development of remedial training activities, and short-term training with the possibility for one or two longer-term academic assignments. Graduate programs will be focused primarily on non-thesis Masters Degrees with advanced training for a doctoral degree program available. Curriculum development will involve 2-5 basic courses such as general agriculture, pest management, animal science/livestock management, agricultural extension education, and agricultural business management. NCSU?s phase of the project will be lead by a core interdisciplinary team of 7 CALS faculty.

Some soybean genotypes representing a wide range of insect and drought resistance have been resistant to insect injury, especially under droughty conditions. Even within soybean genotypes, those that can resist wilting are not only able to withstand droughty conditions, but are more resistant to insects that feed on soybean leaves. The long-term goal of this project is to identify specific factors in soybean varieties that can be used to preserve yield in the face of an increasingly drought-stressed North Carolina soybean crop under increasing insect pressures.

The Sandhills ecoregion represents the transition between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of North and South Carolina. The ecosystem most commonly associated with the Sandhills is the longleaf pine savanna. Longleaf pine savannas once dominated the southeastern United States, but due to fire suppresion and overuse of the longleaf pine for rosin and turpentine production it is now considered an endangered habitat. The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, established in South Carolina in 1939, reintroduced fire to the longleaf pine savannas within the refuge and have been successful in their effort to reestablish the stereotypic structure of the habitat with high pine canopy and an understory of switch grass and flowering herbaceous plants. Sam Droege from the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland conducted a survey of the native bee fauna in the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge (CSNWR) in South Carolina over a period of three years beginning in 2006. The purpose of his study was to gain an understanding of the patterns and types of species of native bees on the refuge as an exemplar of some of the best remaining Sandhills habitat in the eastern US with an emphasis on refuge lands and to assess the value of the refuge to the native bees. In his preliminary review he estimates that he has collected 200 species, 100 of which are new species records for South Carolina. In 1973 the Walthour-Moss Foundation was established in Moore County, North Carolina and over the past 39 years have acquired over 4,000 acres of Sandhills longleaf pine savanna. In 2011 the foundation implemented the Forest Restoration Project and have begun rotational prescribed burns on the property. A survey similar to Droege?s conducted at the Walthour-Moss Foundation sites will provide the opportunity for interesting ecological investigation and comparison. The relative immaturity of the preserve, especially given the recent introduction of prescribed burns offers an opportunity to test hypotheses about species diversity and how changes in land management affect it. The results of the survey will be compared to Droege?s findings and analyzed to identify differences in the species diversity, composition and abundance between the two sites. The North Carolina State University Insect Museum?s bee collection will be used a reference when doing species determinations. The bees in collection were collected by a former member of the teaching faculty, Theodore B. Mitchell in the Sandhills area between the 1920s and 1960s. Mitchell?s collection will also be used for comparison to identify new species not previously reported and species previously reported that are not represented. Mitchell did a majority of his collecting before the preserve was established. I predict that species composition will be greater today, given that there was no initiative to safeguard the Sandhills habitat in place at that time.