SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/484138
Field Science 8 SportsTurf | April 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com Unfortunately, many municipalities, even whole states, are banning the use of synthetic pesticides (and in some cases ALL pesticides) on municipal or school grounds. This can also apply to the athletic fields. In this article, I'm not going to debate the lack of scientific evidence that this is necessary as it is a reality in many locations! However, this leaves grounds and athletic field man- agers asking, "Are there any alternatives that work?" The short answer is yes, but there are many qualifications to this! In many of these restricted envi- ronments, biological, natural and organic products are allowed. The problem is that many of the folks who passed these regulations don't really understand these terms, so manag- ers will likely have to ask whether any product that is discussed is allowed in their particular situation. Biological control or BioBased? There are many true biological con- trols in turfgrass habitats—predators, parasites and diseases. Each one of these completes its life cycle by captur- ing and eating prey, feeding internally on the insect or increasing its popula- tion by infecting and killing a host insect. Common soil-dwelling ants prey on white grub and sod webworm eggs, but they rarely control these pests when outbreak populations occur. There are also several parasite wasps and flies that attack turfgrass insects, but they usually do so at low levels (below 10%). When we sample turf insects, we often see ones with fungal, bacterial or viral infections, but these also rarely achieve more than 20-25% mortality. So, how can the efficacy of these biological controls be increased? In most cases, the nature of the biological control cannot be enhanced. However, others, like the insect parasitic nematodes, become effective when massive numbers are reared and released. Many people do not understand the difference between a true biologi- cal control and a biobased product. As an example, most users of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) products think they are using a biological control when, in fact, they are using a biobased pes- ticide! In short, the package usually contains dead bacteria and bacterial products. These bacterial products contain a protein toxin, called the delta-endotoxin, which if ingested by a susceptible insect, eats a hole in the insect's gut! This lets secondary bacteria to seep into the body cavity, causing infection and death. If Bt was AlternAte insect controls for sports turf: what works And what doesn't! ■ By Dr. DaviD Shetlar all white grubs are robust, C-shaped larvae of scarabs that feed on the organic matter in soils, especially thatch in turf. Northern masked chafers exposed by pulling damaged turf back.