Locusts and remote sensing: a review

Abstract

A dozen species of locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) are a major threat to food security worldwide. Their outbreaks occur on every continent except Antarctica, threatening the livelihood of 10% of the world's population. The locusts are infamous for their voracity, polyphagy, and capacity for long-distance migrations. Decades of research revealed very complex bioecology of locusts. They exist in two, inter-convertible and density-dependent states, or "phases." Despite the evident progress in understanding locust behavior, our ability to predict and manage locust outbreaks remains insufficient, as evidenced by locust plagues still occurring during the 21st century. One of the main reasons is that locusts typically inhabit remote and scarcely populated areas, and their distribution ranges often spread across continents. This creates tremendous obstacles for locust population monitoring and control. Traditional ground locust surveys are inadequate to address the enormous spatial scale of the locust problem in a limited window of time dictated by the pest's development. Remote sensing (satellite information) appears a promising tool in locust monitoring. Satellite data are increasingly used for monitoring and forecasting two locust species, the desert and the Australian plague locust. However, applications of this geospatial technology to other locust species remain rare. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

The limitations of locust preventive management faced with spatial uncertainty: exploration with a multi‐agent model

“…There has been huge progress in the use of technological tools since the time when only biological knowledge on the insects was available. Nowadays, monitoring has increased significantly and remote sensing is widely used to locate, in real time, where suitable environmental conditions occur, facilitating locust outbreaks and upsurges . Early warning systems are used for some species .…”

Improving preventive locust management: insights from a multi‐agent model

“…The strategy of the preventive management of locust plagues consists in locating and destroying locusts that are starting to change their behaviour from solitarious individuals to dense, gregarious groups . Monitoring has increased significantly and remote sensing data are now widely used to locate, in real time, where convenient environmental conditions occur, facilitating locust outbreaks and upsurges . Early warning is used in many cases …”

Location and Characterization of Breeding Sites of Solitary Desert Locust Using Satellite Images Landsat 7 ETM+ and Terra MODIS

“…The research has focused mainly on locust species worldwide, Locusta migratoria [21], Chortoicetes terminifera [22], Rhammatocerus schistocercoides [23] and Nomadacris septemfasciata [24], but also on various grasshoppers species [3] [25]. For the desert locust, these techniques can in theory allow researchers, firstly, to better locate and map potential areas for reproduction and gregarization, and secondly, to identify in real time the appearance in these areas of suitable ecological conditions for breeding (rain, runoff and development of green vegetation), well before the first signs of gregarization [7] [26].…”

“…The consequences of its invasions can be disastrous for food security of many states in affected areas in Africa and Asia [3]. In addition, large amounts of chemical insecticides commonly used for control operations can result in se-rious damage to the environment [4].…”