A laboratory‐based comparison of a molluscicide and an alternative food source (red clover) as means of reducing slug damage to winter wheat

Abstract

Slugs are major pests of many crops in the UK, including winter wheat, yet current methods of control are often unreliable. This study investigates the potential use of red clover, as an alternative food source, to reduce the amount of damage caused to winter wheat by the field slug, Deroceras reticulatum (Müller). Two laboratory-based studies, each conducted over a 7-day period, investigated the effects of red clover seedlings and commercial metaldehyde pellets on damage to winter wheat seeds and seedlings. The results indicate that metaldehyde applications, in the form of commercially available pellets, resulted in significantly greater protection to wheat seeds compared with red clover, whereas metaldehyde and red clover were equally as effective in reducing damage to wheat seedlings. A further laboratory experiment investigated the effect of two slug population densities (48 and 16 adults m(-2)) and high and low red clover seed rates (125% and 75% of a standard rate) on damage to wheat seeds. Results showed that, at the highest slug population density, red clover sown at 125% of the standard rate gave 99% protection to wheat seeds, compared with the 75% seed rate which gave 55%. At the lower slug population density, both seed rates of red clover resulted in similar levels of protection. Implications for the potential use of red clover as an alternative food source for reducing damage to winter wheat in field conditions are discussed.

Planting Green Effects on Corn and Soybean Production

“…Further, more biomass and residue cover can improve weed suppression (Mischler et al, 2010;Finney et al, 2016), reduce nutrient leaching from the system (Alonso-Ayuso et al, 2014;Farsad et al, 2011;Finney et al, 2016), and extend the time for N 2 fixation by leguminous CCs (Cook et al, 2010;Wagger, 1989;Ketterings et al, 2015). More CC biomass may also provide habitat for beneficial arthropods (Finke and Denno, 2002) including slug predators, potentially providing slug predator suppression, while the living CC may provide alternative food for slugs, further reducing slug damage of main crops (Brooks et al, 2005;Le Gall and Tooker, 2017). Growers have been increasingly interested in using PG to maximize these ecosystem services, but there are few published studies that quantify the impacts of the practice on which to base management recommendations for corn and soybean in the region.…”

The use of an alternative food source (red clover) as a means of reducing slug pest damage to winter wheat: towards field implementation

“…In order for a slug control strategy that uses an alternative food to successfully reduce damage to wheat, previous laboratory findings must be replicable in a field situation 25. The field results showed that high populations of red clover gave up to 99% protection to wheat seeds, even at high slug densities, and that wheat seeds and seedlings gained as much as 55% more protection compared with the control (wheat only).…”

“…Furthermore, red clover continued to be more palatable to slugs than did wheat over an extended 11 day test. In a follow‐on study an assessment of the ability of red clover to offer protection to vulnerable wheat crops, in comparison with the most commonly used method of slug control, metaldehyde, found that red clover was less effective in reducing damage to wheat seeds but equally as effective as metaldehyde in reducing damage to seedlings 25. Furthermore, both red clover and metaldehyde resulted in as much as 55% more protection to wheat seeds and seedlings then the wheat‐only control.…”

Slug Monitoring and Impacts on the Ground Beetle Community in the Frame of Sustainable Pest Control in Conventional and Conservation Agroecosystems

“…Indeed, practices based on non-inversion tillage have been shown to increase weed infestation and to modify the biological community of the soil [16]. In conservation agricultural systems, slugs can use weeds as an alternative food source, as is also true for to the plants seeded for intercropping [17][18][19][20]. In addition, the presence of crop residues on the soil surface may provide a suitable habitat for these pests [13,21], increasing their feeding activity [22].…”

“…In conservation agricultural systems, slugs can use weeds as an alternative food source, as is also true for to the plants seeded for intercropping [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. In addition, the presence of crop residues on the soil surface may provide a suitable habitat for these pests [ 13 , 21 ], increasing their feeding activity [ 22 ].…”