Development of integrated pest management in sports turf - novel approaches using seaweed products

本提案的总体目标是仔细审查和调查新的海藻配方，以获得它们在病虫害保护方面的额外好处。在草皮管理方面，海藻比其他“有机”产品有巨大的优势——它与杀虫剂直接兼容，因此可以用于IPM项目。含有活微生物的产品没有这种优势，因为它们可能被杀菌剂杀死。我们将开展一系列实验室、温室和田间试验，以ICL-SF现有的海藻产品“WSF Sportsmaster SeaMax”为基础，研究海藻如何增强草坪草对病虫害的抵抗力。该产品是从芦笋（Ascophyllum nodosum）中提取的，芦笋是唯一一种以前被证明可以提高其他植物抗线虫能力的海藻。RHUL以前的工作表明，海藻也可以增强土壤微生物群落（见参考文献）。因此，总的来说，我们将针对包括线虫和主要致病真菌nivale Microdochium nivale在内的有害生物，同时测量对土壤细菌和有益的丛枝菌根真菌的影响。后者也被证明可以提供植物抵抗线虫攻击的能力，因此将是我们尝试操纵土壤食物网的重要组成部分。我们将进行试验，改变海藻配方、施用量和时间，并研究在使用传统农药时产品的表现。

The overall aim of this proposal is to scrutinise and investigate novel seaweed formulations for their additional benefits of pest and disease protection. Seaweed has a huge advantage over other 'organic' products in turf management - it is directly compatible with pesticides, and so can be used in IPM programmes. Products containing living microbes do not have this advantage, as they may be killed by fungicides.We will conduct a series of laboratory, glasshouse and field trials that investigate how seaweed can enhance the resistance of turf grasses to pests and diseases, based on the existing ICL-SF seaweed product 'WSF Sportsmaster SeaMax'. This product is derives from Ascophyllum nodosum, the only species of seaweed previously shown to improve nematode resistance in other plants. Previous work at RHUL has suggested that seaweed can also enhance soil microbial communities (see references). Thus, overall, we will target nuisance organisms including nematodes and the main disease-causing fungus, Microdochium nivale, while simultaneously measuring effects on soil bacteria and beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The latter group has also been shown to provide plant resistance to nematode attack and so will be an important part of our attempt to manipulate the soil food web. We will conduct trials in which we vary seaweed formulations, application rates and times and study how the products perform when conventional pesticides are also applied.