Eradication Strawberry Guava (leaf gall)

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jon

...This new food source will most likely be something no one thinks of.

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Can you say "Coffee" []

Reality is that SG sucks.

Taking away food sources suck during this time when food prices are going up.

In todays tribune, it mentions that 90% of our food is shipped in.

There must be a way to eradicate SG without the risks of this bug attacking other food sources.

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Lower your expectations and be ready for anything.

[MarkP]

As I understand from previous posts, this bug won't eradicate Strawberry Guava, only weaken it. After all, it didn't eliminate SG back in their original range. That means we will never be free of either of them. However as things stand now we have no prospect of ever being free of SG. Rest assured, there will always be some SG around.

Frankly, we have all already sold our souls to the devil. Most of us are only alive because of advances in medicine and agriculture that we have only the vaguest understanding of, and if I have a serious illness and the doctor says "here, lets try this. It's new" I'm gonna trust him, pretty much, because the scientific method of investigation has done its job pretty well so far. Don't kid yourself that the doctor really knows exactly what the meds he gives you do. He wasn't the researcher that spent years in the lab researching that particular drug. He does however know that it made it through all kinds of peer review and passed the scrutiny of the FDA which despite its faults is lots better than nothing. And we accept it too. I am not saying that I blindly accept any and all options that science makes possible, but to dismiss biological controls for SG out of hand is inconsistant with the decisions that the majority of us make on a daily basis. The same methods of study are used to derive antibiotics and vaccines. Not sure but I think some people were harmed by early polio vaccines. That didn't stop the further development and use of polio vaccine.

I'm not saying there is no risk. I'm saying that we take the risk and get it right in other fields so we should be consistant about how we view such things.

[steviethewonder]

Biocontrol should NEVER be used again unless, by some happy coincidence, a species that's native to the area (most likely at the brink of, if not extinct in the wild already due to the takeover of native habitat by non-native invasives like strawberry guava), turns out to provide it. How about creating more green industry jobs manually removing and replacing them with natives? This is the most responsible path, in my opinion. How many could have been removed already had money spent on studies and biocontrol research been spent on good ol' fashioned labor?

Steve Newman

[MarkP]

Not trying to be difficult or contrary here (it just comes naturally I guess) but my point is that it is counterproductive to waste time talking about mechanical means of dealing with strawberry guava. It is so invasive and easily spread and there is so much area that is rough and unreachable on any practical level that talking about finding a use for it or hand grubbing it, or bulldozing it, is foolish. We either live with it, find a very specific poison for it that can be spread form the air, or find a very specific organism that will plague it. I have not heard of any poison that would do the job specifically enough. That leaves biocontrol or living with it.

[Jon]

Hmm so it’s really really bad... let’s see if we can find something to kill it that might be even worse?

History does not show that there will be much of a chance of success.


Texan Moving to Puna.

[Guest]

How will they keep farmers from spraying their guava trees with pesticides to keep these bugs away from them?

The answer is... they can't and won't be able to... Farmers are allowed to defend their crops from all pests.

Releasing this bug won't eradicate the Strawberry Guava. They need to find a better way to get rid of it, but I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

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Lower your expectations and be ready for anything.

[dakine]

FYI - An email I received this morning...

From: tracyjohnson@fs.fed.us
Subject: Public Information Meeting on proposed biocontrol of strawberry guava Thurs June 5
Date: June 2, 2008 10:19:56 PM HST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Aloha,

There will be a public information meeting regarding strawberry guava and
the proposed release of the bio-control agent on Thursday, June 5. The
meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m., on the University of Hawaii, Hilo Campus,
UCB 127 (Newer building mauka of the main parking lots off Kawili St.,
Campus Center and Library.)
Hawaii State Representative Clift Tsuji will moderate the meeting, which
will include participants from the Forest Service and other federal and
state agencies. The meeting will include a period for questions and
answers.

Tracy Johnson
Research Entomologist
Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry
Pacific Southwest Research Station
USDA Forest Service
P.O. Box 236
Volcano, Hawaii 96785
tel: 808-967-7122 fax: 808-967-7158
email: tracyjohnson@fs.fed.us

[oink]

I don't want to hijack the thread but I was wondering is their are any efforts to control "christmas berry" which seems to be taking over large sections of the environment.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[Rob Tucker]

For those who have strong opinions on this topic this meeting should be a great opportunity to sort out some fact from fiction.

Unfortunately I have other meetings I am obligated to attend. If any Punawebbers go to the strawberry guav presentation fill us in on the affiar please.

[kimtavares]

I have heard that the meeting is mostly for the purpose of public information. There may be a Q&A after the presentation.

For those of you who won't make it, the attached press release probably covers much of the same information.

===

Biological Control Release of Tectococcus ovatus, a Gall-forming
Scale Insect to Aid in the Control of Strawberry Guava (Psidium
cattleianum)

Strawberry guava
• Strawberry guava was introduced to yards and gardens of Hawai‘i in
1825. Since then, it has spread into moist and wet forests
statewide. Strawberry guava is killing and replacing native forests
by forming dense, single-species thickets.
• The Carnegie Airborne Observatory has worked for the past several
years to aerially map what remains of native Hawaiian forests. “We
have documented what is happening across many thousands of acres, and
it is utterly clear that strawberry guava is among the worst invasive
plants in the State,” (statement from Dr. Gregory Asner, Department
of Global Ecology, Carnegie Airborne Observatory, Stanford).
Biocontrol in General
• Protocol for biocontrol research and testing has improved vastly
and cannot be compared to the careless and unregulated introduction
of mongooses in the 1880’s. Since 1975, a total of 51 biocontrol
species have been introduced to Hawai‘i after thorough testing — none
have switched hosts to non-target species, and none have resulted in
the eradication of their host.
• Biocontrol is a gradual process that can reduce the abundance of a
pest, but does not eradicate it.
• A lot of time and effort is spent testing to see if the biocontrol
species will switch hosts to closely-related species and more distant
relatives. Biocontrol species are only released when testing shows
that the species does NOT switch hosts, even when denied their
preferred host. A “fast track” biocontrol project could take 4 years
of research, but usually takes much longer.
• Where biocontrol species succeed in controlling or reducing prey
(host) populations, the biocontrol species population also levels off
or declines accordingly.
Biocontrol insect to control the spread of strawberry guava
• The biocontrol selected and tested for release is a scale insect.
The newly-hatched nymphs crawl to young strawberry guava leaves,
triggering the plant to form tissue around the nymph. These tissue
lumps are called “galls”, and they reduce plant vigor by diverting
resources normally used for plant growth and reproduction.
Strawberry guava is the only plant in Hawai‘i that this insect is
able to feed and make galls on.
• Decreased plant vigor will slow the spread of this plant, which
will allow koa, ‘ôhi‘a and other native forest plants to survive and
better compete for space, sunlight, and water.
• Decreased plant vigor will also decrease the number of seeds
produced. This will allow land managers to achieve better control
with chemical and mechanical techniques.
• Scientists have studied this insect for approximately 15 years to
understand its biology and ensure that it will not attack other
species. In 15 years of testing, it has not killed strawberry guava
plants and has never attacked non-target plants of concern in
Hawai‘i.
• Testing of this biocontrol insect for strawberry guava was reviewed
and accepted by scientific panels administered by the Hawai‘i
Department of Agriculture (HDOA), and a federal Environmental
Assessment was conducted. After regulatory reviews and public
comment, permits for release of the insect were issued in April 2008
by HDOA and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

(END)

*****
Christy Martin, Public Information Officer
CGAPS-Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species
P.O. Box 61441
Honolulu, HI 96839
Cell: (808) 722-0995
FAX: (808) 956-4710
www.cgaps.org

The next CGAPS meeting is scheduled for Monday July 28, 2008, 9-12 noon. Invasive Species Committees meeting from 1-4 p.m. Both meetings will be held in the Federal Building at 300 Ala Moana Blvd, room 5-208. Please note that there is no onsite public parking.