Presenter(s): Calvin Penkauskas
Faculty Mentor(s): Lauren Hallett & Alejandro Brambila
Poster 61
Session: Sciences
Filbertworm (Cydia laiferreana) is a polyphagous moth that burrows into acorns of Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) and hazelnuts (Corylus spp.). Filbertworm source populations in remnant oak habitat can lead to cyclical infestation in neighboring hazelnut stands. This makes these remaining oak stands, which are mostly on private agricultural land, a potential liability to hazelnut production in Oregon – which accounts for over 90 percent of the US production. Oregon white oak habitat is one of the most reduced habitats in Oregon and is of conservational concern. I’m testing a novel way to mitigate hazelnut filbertworm infestation through pig grazing in oak woodland and organic hazelnut understories. Removal of infested nuts interrupts the developmental stage in the filbertworm life cycle. I hypothesize that controlled grazing will reduce filbertworm populations, nut infestation rates, and herbaceous cover. During Spring and Summer of 2018 I conducted baseline filbertworm inventories via pheromone-lured sticky traps in the canopy and ground-based emergence traps in oak woodland and organic hazelnut orchard on My Brothers Farm in Creswell, Oregon. Grazed and ungrazed plots were established in the woodland and orchard. Domestic pigs (Sus domesticus) were rotated through two-acre pastures in late September/early October with four to five days in each. Understory vegetation was sampled along transects in each plot and acorn density/infestation rates were inventoried before and after treatment. Preliminary results display a reduction of infested acorns in the oak woodland and no effect on understory vegetation. Ongoing filbertworm, acorn, and vegetation monitoring will continue through Fall of 2019.