Abstract
A Lagrangian model was developed to predict the vertical distribution of pheromone in apple orchards treated with synthetic pheromone released from polyethylene tubing dispensers. Measurements of tree dimensions' dispenser heights, air temperature, and wind speed were used as inputs to the model. Data to test the model output were obtained by air sampling and capillary gas chromatography to determine atmospheric pheromone concentration. The model predicted highest concentrations of pheromone in the plane of the dispensers. Predicted and measured concentrations were in the range 0.5–5 ng/m3 for blocks treated with 1000 or 2000 dispensers/ha. Mean wind speed had a large influence on pheromone concentrations within the canopy with concentrations decreasing at higher wind speeds. Wind speeds <0.1 m/sec, which represent good flying conditions for moths, resulted in high levels of mean pheromone concentration. Dispenser height had only a small influence on the maximum pheromone concentration, with the peak concentrations decreasing with increasing application height. The lower peak concentration for an elevated dispenser occurred mainly because wind speeds were higher in the upper parts of the tree canopy. Air temperature, dispenser density, and pheromone release rate (as inferred by dispenser liquid length), also had a significant influence on pheromone concentration because of the linear relationship between these parameters and the corresponding flux of pheromone released into the treated orchards. We use known scaling relationships to demonstrate these effects.
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Suckling, D.M., Green, S.R., Gibb, A.R. et al. Predicting Atmospheric Concentration of Pheromone in Treated Apple Orchards. J Chem Ecol 25, 117–139 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020893201446
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020893201446