Abstract The Decision Support System (DSS) used by the Australian Plague Locust Commission for m... more Abstract The Decision Support System (DSS) used by the Australian Plague Locust Commission for management of several important migratory insect pests in Australia is described. The DSS is based on a Geographic Information System that integrates data on weather and habitat condition with the migration, development and distribution of the pest to prepare forecasts and aid decisions for control. The GIS is module based with the number and nature of the modules easily modified depending on the detail of data required to manage the pest concerned.
Abstract The Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) is responsible for the monitoring and co... more Abstract The Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) is responsible for the monitoring and control of locust populations that pose a threat to agriculture in the inland areas of four Australian States, a total area of 2 million km2. A GIS-based decision support system (DSS) is used to co-ordinate the collection, processing, analysis and display of a range of spatial data for the forecasting of locust population development and to assist control operations. The resultant forecasts are used to help locate population aggregations early in a breeding sequence so as to enable effective preventive control. The data collection components of the DSS include wireless direct transfer of locust survey data from the field and daily internet collections of weather data. Locust distribution and age information is collected by APLC officers on regular vehicle surveys using GPS-connected palmtop computers, and sent directly to a GIS server via high frequency (HF) radio modems. Locust reports from landholders and state extension staff are also incorporated into the system. The current survey data are used to estimate broad distributions, and to seed spatially-explicit development models that can identify the timing of life stages that can be effectively managed. Information on the distribution of rainfall, temperature and wind-fields is collected automatically from the internet and integrated with habitat information and locust distributions. Online weather data products from the Bureau of Meterology are also accessed regularly to assist in operational decision making.
A national research approach to the 'grasshopper problem' began following a plague of the Austral... more A national research approach to the 'grasshopper problem' began following a plague of the Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera Walker) in inland south-eastern Australia in the 1930s. After the plague of the 1950s, the role of arid inland areas as a source of migrations into agricultural areas received greater attention. In the 1960s and 1970s, international collaborative experimental research with the CSIRO advanced the knowledge of locust lifecycles and population ecology. Studies of nocturnal mass migration on upper-level winds brought a new understanding of Australian locust population dynamics. This paper traces Australian research into locust ecology within the contexts of locust infestations and government responses to them. Investigations on Australian locusts reflected many contemporary ideas and methods in entomological research and contributed to the development of international ecological theory during the twentieth century. International locust research based on the phase change and outbreak area model of Uvarov particularly influenced work carried out in Australia.
Abstract The Decision Support System (DSS) used by the Australian Plague Locust Commission for m... more Abstract The Decision Support System (DSS) used by the Australian Plague Locust Commission for management of several important migratory insect pests in Australia is described. The DSS is based on a Geographic Information System that integrates data on weather and habitat condition with the migration, development and distribution of the pest to prepare forecasts and aid decisions for control. The GIS is module based with the number and nature of the modules easily modified depending on the detail of data required to manage the pest concerned.
Abstract The Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) is responsible for the monitoring and co... more Abstract The Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) is responsible for the monitoring and control of locust populations that pose a threat to agriculture in the inland areas of four Australian States, a total area of 2 million km2. A GIS-based decision support system (DSS) is used to co-ordinate the collection, processing, analysis and display of a range of spatial data for the forecasting of locust population development and to assist control operations. The resultant forecasts are used to help locate population aggregations early in a breeding sequence so as to enable effective preventive control. The data collection components of the DSS include wireless direct transfer of locust survey data from the field and daily internet collections of weather data. Locust distribution and age information is collected by APLC officers on regular vehicle surveys using GPS-connected palmtop computers, and sent directly to a GIS server via high frequency (HF) radio modems. Locust reports from landholders and state extension staff are also incorporated into the system. The current survey data are used to estimate broad distributions, and to seed spatially-explicit development models that can identify the timing of life stages that can be effectively managed. Information on the distribution of rainfall, temperature and wind-fields is collected automatically from the internet and integrated with habitat information and locust distributions. Online weather data products from the Bureau of Meterology are also accessed regularly to assist in operational decision making.
A national research approach to the 'grasshopper problem' began following a plague of the Austral... more A national research approach to the 'grasshopper problem' began following a plague of the Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera Walker) in inland south-eastern Australia in the 1930s. After the plague of the 1950s, the role of arid inland areas as a source of migrations into agricultural areas received greater attention. In the 1960s and 1970s, international collaborative experimental research with the CSIRO advanced the knowledge of locust lifecycles and population ecology. Studies of nocturnal mass migration on upper-level winds brought a new understanding of Australian locust population dynamics. This paper traces Australian research into locust ecology within the contexts of locust infestations and government responses to them. Investigations on Australian locusts reflected many contemporary ideas and methods in entomological research and contributed to the development of international ecological theory during the twentieth century. International locust research based on the phase change and outbreak area model of Uvarov particularly influenced work carried out in Australia.
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