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Below Ground Biological Control in Urban Landscapes and Assessment of Factors Influencing Its Abundance THESIS Presented in Part

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Below Ground Biological Control in Urban Landscapes and Assessment of Factors Influencing Its Abundance THESIS Presented in Part Below ground biological control in urban landscapes and assessment of factors influencing its abundance THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Priyanka Yadav Graduate Program in Entomology The Ohio State University 2012 Master's Examination Committee: Parwinder S. Grewal, Advisor Casey W. Hoy P. Larry Phelan Mary Gardiner Copyrighted by Priyanka Yadav 2012 Abstract The practice of urban agriculture has recently gained momentum due to its potential of making cities self-reliant and revitalizing disadvantaged neighborhoods enhancing food security, generating new employment opportunities and access to fresh fruits and vegetables. However, the suitability of urban soils for agricultural use is questionable given their highly disturbed and contaminated nature,. My research examined, the inherent biological control activity provided by urban soils and ways to enhance such this activity to support sustainable crop production. We quantified belowground biocontrol activity in urban gardens and vacant lots in three Ohio cities, Columbus, Cleveland, and Akron, using an in-situ insect baiting technique. We hypothesized that belowground biocontrol services would differ between gardens and vacant lots and different biocontrol organisms may be influenced by variation in habitat structure characteristics of these sites. Biocontrol activity, as assessed by % mortality of baited insects, varied between 63% and 82% with higher activity often recorded in vacant lots compared with gardens. Major contributors of potential below-ground biological control activity were ants, followed by microbial pathogens and entomopathogenic nematodes, respectively. Ants showed higher % mortality in vacant lots than in urban gardens (p value = 0.04) whereas microbial pathogens exhibited higher mortality ii ingardens than vacant lots (p value = 0.002). Such substantial biological control activity is promising and suggests that enhancing this inherent biological control activity can substantially reduce agricultural inputs. As the biocontrol organisms are sensitive to variations in management practices, we further studied these sites for soil health/quality characteristics so as to generate hypotheses regarding practices that will increase activity of these biocontrol organisms. We found that potential biocontrol service by ants (as assessed by mortality of bait insect caused by ants) is associated negatively with enrichment index and NH4-N; and positively with number of omnivore nematodes and soil moisture. In contrast, mortality by microbes is positively associated with enrichment index, NH4-N, and negatively with the number of omnivore nematodes and soil moisture. Mortality by EPNs is associated positively with plant parasitic index, number of cp-1 class bacterial feeding nematodes, and negatively with combined maturity index, cp-2 class bacterial feeding nematodes and NO3-N. Such site assessment for biocontrol agents and determining practices to enhance their activity in urban gardens will likely provide for a safe and sustainable pest control strategy to enhance the quality of food crops and environmental health. We expect that the results from this study can be integrated in establishment and management of urban gardens in Ohio and elsewhere and will contribute to improvements in human and environmental health. iii Acknowledgments I wish to thank my adviser, Dr Parwinder Grewal, for intellectual support, encouragement, and enthusiasm which made this thesis possible, and for his patience in correcting both my stylistic and scientific errors. I thank Dr. Dr. Casey W. Hoy, Dr. Larry Phelan and Dr. Mary Gardiner for stimulating discussions on the project, for providing the basic knowledge needed for designing the study and for guiding me through the statistical analysis of the study. I am also grateful to all my lab members Dr. Zhiqiang Cheng, Dr. Ruisheng An, Harit Bal and Kuhuk Sharma, and summer interns especially Kathy Duckworth for their support and help in the fieldwork. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Steven Naber for guiding me through the statistical analysis. iv Vita 1999……………………………India International School, New Delhi 2000-2006………………………Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, India 2007-2009…………………………Master of Science, Environmental Science, The Ohio State University, USA 2009-2012…………………………Graduate Research/Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, USA Publications Priyanka Yadav, Woodbridge A. Foster, Timothy J. Buckley, William J. Mitsch, Parwinder S. Grewal. Factors affecting mosquito populations in created wetlands - accepted in Urban Ecosystems Yadav, P., Duckworth, K., Grewal, P.S., 2011. Habitat structure influences below ground biocontrol services: A comparison between urban gardens and vacant lots. Landscape and Urban Planning. 104(2), 238-244. Fields of Study Major Field: Entomology v Table of Contents Abstract...............................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................iv Vita.......................................................................................................................................v List of Tables.......................................................................................................................x List of Figures.....................................................................................................................xi Chapters: 1. Introduction and literature review....................................................................................1 1.1 Urban Agriculture………………......................................................................1 1.1.1 Importance of urban agriculture..........................................................1 1.1.2 Issues and challenges faced in practicing urban agriculture...............2 1.1.3 Strategic solution to the challenges………………………………….5 1.2 Nematode community as soil health indicator………………………………...5 1.3 Nematode community indices ……………………………………………...…6 1.4 Natural biological control as a pest control strategy..........................................8 1.4.1 Why Belowground biological control.................................................9 1.4.2 Belowground biological control agents............................................10 1.4.2.1 Ants………………………………………………………...10 1.4.2.2 Bacteria/fungi………………………………………………11 1.4.2.1 Entomopathogenic nematodes……………………………..12 1.5 Rationale for the study…………………………………………………….…13 1.6 Specific objectives and hypothesis…...............................................................13 References…………………………………………………………..………..15 2. Belowground biological control activity in urban landscapes: A comparison between urban gardens and vacant lots ……………………………………………………….......22 2.1 Abstract............................................................................................................22 2.2 Introduction......................................................................................................23 2.3 Materials and Methods.....................................................................................26 vi 2.3.1 Study sites………………….............................................................26 2.3.2 Quantification of belowground biocontrol activity...........................28 2.3.3 Identification of the potential biocontrol organisms……………….30 2.3.4 Statistical analysis…………………………………………….........31 2.4 Results..............................................................................................................32 2.4.1 Total belowground biocontrol activity in urban gardens and vacant lots………………………………………………………………………..32 2.4.2 Relative contribution of different organisms to belowground biocontrol activity......................................................................................32 2.4.3 Differences in total belowground biocontrol activity between newly established gardens and older gardens……………………………….......33 2.4.4 Effect of cage type on biocontrol activity by different organisms…33 2.5 Discussion........................................................................................................34 References………………………………………………………………..…..41 3. Factors affecting belowground biocontrol activity........................................................51 3.1 Abstract............................................................................................................51 3.2 Introduction......................................................................................................52 3.3 Methods............................................................................................................55 3.3.1 Study sites.........................................................................................55 3.3.2 Quantification of belowground biocontrol activity...........................57 3.3.3 Soil sample collection……………………………………………...58 3.3.4 Soil nematode extraction and identification……………………….58 3.3.5 Nematode community index calculation…………………………..59 3.3.5 Soil physical and chemical parameters…………………………….60 3.3.6 Data analyses………………………………………………………60 3.4 Results..............................................................................................................61 3.4.1 Biological control in urban gardens and vacant
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